With the program’s all-time leading scorer gone to graduation, its most skilled returning playmaker sidelined by injury and a third coach in three years at the helm, it’s understandable that the Norwood High girls soccer team struggled out of the gate, especially offensively.

The Mustangs are hoping they have turned the corner heading into the second half of the season, doubling their goal total for the year in a 3-2 comeback victory at Ursuline Academy on Monday.

Senior Leah Murphy struck for tying and game-winning scores less than five minutes apart as Norwood overcame a 2-1 halftime deficit.

“It was great, it’s been a rough season because we haven’t scored many goals but the team really came together,” said Murphy. “The only reason I got the goals were the assists from the other forwards. Everybody has their heads up for the rest of the season.”

Norwood improved to 2-7 headed into the second half of its 18-game slate. The Mustangs were scheduled to take on Milton last night before a makeup game with Weymouth today.

“Obviously our record could be a little bit better results-wise but our performances have been better from one day to the next,” said Norwood first-year coach Peter McDonnell. “In the Walpole game we were are only a few minutes away from getting a tie against one of the best teams in the league. I would have liked to have been a little bit better, but from the first day until now we have been improving.”

Murphy says that the transition to their new coach, who assumed the reins when Kevin Aylett stepped down after a just one-year stint, has been smooth.

“It’s been totally different,” said Murphy. “He is very articulate with how he wants us to play so I think it’s a much better fit for us this year.”

The Mustangs were shut out in six of their first seven games as they adapted to life without Cory Ryan, now playing for the University of Maryland after scoring 101 points the previous four years, and senior captain Nicole Quintiliani, a creative midfielder who is recovering from an ACL tear suffered this summer.

Against the Bears, Norwood was without a second senior captain, Lauren Seijido, due to injury and lost another key midfielder, junior Brittany Cadiz, to a groin strain early in the contest.

Still, the Mustangs wasted little time getting on the board against Ursuline, converting a penalty kick four minutes in for a 1-0 lead.

Kacie Smith, one of four freshmen along with Kara Shea, Katherine Lynch and Julia Copponi to see regular playing time this year, was tripped at the top of the box and junior Brittany Sullivan buried the resulting shot from the spot. Smith was particularly dangerous all afternoon with penetrating runs from her wing forward position.

Ursuline (4-3) answered with a pair to take the edge into the break as Kristen Hickey placed a hard shot just past diving sophomore goalie Olivia Philbrook and inside the right post in the 13th minute and Courtney Sepe gave the Bears the lead in the 17th with a quick shot from the right side.

Philbrook bounced back to blank the Bears in the second half, making nine saves in all, including a key stop on a Sepe volley to preserve the Mustangs lead. Philbrook has been solid in her first full year as the starter in net, allowing two goals or less in six of her first nine games.

Murphy tied it just under 10 minutes into the second. The center forward took a pass from Sullivan inside the area with her back to the net and a defender marking tightly, spun to free her right foot and blasted a shot past Ursuline keeper Alicia McNally.

In the 54th minute, Copponi served a ball into the box that eluded the grasp of McNally, and Murphy was on the doorstep to poke it into the open net for a 3-2 advantage and the first two-goal game of her career.

Philbrook and the defense, anchored by junior Alayna Fogg, made the margin stand up. Senior captain Vicky Driscoll, the Mustangs’ glue in the center of the field, and junior Karyn Colomey, who shifted effectively between the back line and midfield, were also instrumental in the win.

“We got a little panicky in the first half and they are better than that,” said McDonnell. “We got the ball around like we are able to and we finished our chances today. I’m happy for the them, delighted that they got a win today because I think anything less would have been a disappointment for them at this stage of the season.”