BRYN MAWR, Pa. – The Owls field hockey team kicked off their 2022 season in historic fashion earlier Thursday afternoon. Bryn Mawr poured it on Albright, scoring four first-half goals to get a 5-0 win over Albright on the day. Today's result is the 300th recorded victory in the program's history, and it also saw sophomore Eva Yacura rack up the second-most goals and fifth-most points in recorded program history as well.

The contest got off to a bit of a sluggish start, as can be expected in the opening minutes of the first game of the season. Bryn Mawr controlled most of the action but struggled to make the key pass that would unlock the Lions defense early on. Yacura had a couple shots in the middle of the first quarter that did not result in a goal, but the Owls continued to pour on the pressure in the frame. That relentless attacking finally paid off late in the first quarter, as Yacura finally got the Owls on the board. Bryn Mawr worked the ball into the left side of the circle and tried making several centering passes towards the front of the cage. Lions defenders continued to get their sticks in the way of any connections in front, but the ball finally fell to the turf amidst a pack of players from both sides just yards in front of the cage. Yacura was the first to pounce, backhanding a shot past Albright's goalkeeper and into the back of the cage to give Bryn Mawr their first goal of the season.

That late first-quarter strike seemed to open the floodgates for the Owls in the second frame. Bryn Mawr would strike again just 1:09 into action in the second quarter, and it was Yacura again doing the damage. After earning a penalty corner, Bryn Mawr had Annick van Blerkom insert the ball, and the first-year sent a strong pass to Yacura at the top of the circle. The sophomore dribbled to her right a couple of steps, then blasted a rocket of a shot back across her body, slotting the ball past the Albright netminder and inside the far post to double Bryn Mawr's advantage.

Bryn Mawr kept feeding the hot stick and it kept paying off in the second quarter. Just a few minutes after her second goal of the game, Yacura completed her hat trick by taking a feed from Hazel Miller on the right side and redirecting a beautiful shot right in front of the cage to give Bryn Mawr a 3-0 lead. Yacura was then involved in another Bryn Mawr goal midway through the frame. Once again Yacura took a penalty corner feed near the top of the circle and fired a hard ball towards the front of the cage. This time, Thekla Jubinville got on the other end of it, briefly controlling and redirecting the shot off the shin of a Lions defender and into the back of the net to make it a 4-0 Owls advantage.

Things slowed down a bit in the second half, but Bryn Mawr got one more insurance goal late in the contest off the stick of Hazel Miller. The sophomore took a nice lead pass from Kate Ervin on the left side and raced into the circle. On a semi-breakaway, Miller was able to put a perfectly placed shot on goal, sending it past Albright's goalkeeper and into the cage to complete the scoring on the day.

With the 5-0 victory, Bryn Mawr moves to 1-0 on the young season. This marks the fifth-consecutive season that the Owls field hockey program has opened their season with a win, and the 5-0 margin is the largest season-opening victory for the Owls since 2012. Bryn Mawr will get a couple days off before getting back in action this weekend, as the Owls will play their road opener on Sunday at Alvernia. Gametime for that contest is slated for 2 PM in Reading.