W. Lax 'bucks' Ohio State behind six goals from Ross

The Penn women's lacrosse team won its second game in a row, this time against Ohio State. Sunday night, the Penn women's lacrosse team showed their offensive power in a 19-8 rout of Stanford. Last night, the Quakers reversed course and showed their defensive prowess in picking up a big confidence-building 9-6 victory over Ohio State at Franklin Field. "Offensively we had some big plays, and defensively we had some big plays, and that carried us," Penn coach Anne Sage said. "I think [goalie] Sue Back was outstanding. The defense overall came up with some key plays." The Quakers (2-0) came in knowing they had a tougher match ahead of them with Ohio State than they had in their season-opening victory over Stanford. "I think we were really up for this game," Back said. "We knew what their score was against Stanford [a 20-9 win], and we knew that it would be a better matchup." The Buckeyes came out hard, striking just two minutes into the game to give the Quakers their first deficit of the young season. Not fazed at all, Penn senior co-captain Darah Ross came back with a lightening quick response for the Quakers just under a minute later. Ross had six goals, and if not for a Buckeye tally with a minute remaining, would have outscored Ohio State by herself. Still, the game was back and forth until the Quakers were able to put together a run of four straight goals late in the first half. Once the Quakers got the lead they were not readily willing to relinquish it. Every time Ohio State scored, the Quakers had an answer. The Buckeyes could not put together back-to-back goals all evening. When Ohio State scored with 15 minutes left, the Buckeyes pulled within 6-4 and looked to have a chance at a comeback. Within two minutes, though, Ross and senior co-captain Emily Hansel had each netted a goal and the Quaker lead was safely to four. "We rallied. As the game got keener, we started to come up with some big plays," Sage said. "We played aggressive, powerful lacrosse." Freshman Annie Henderson scored the first goal of the second half -- her fifth of the season -- on a spectacular move evading two defenders. Hansel chipped in two more, giving her six for the year. Her second of the night, midway through the second half, was off a beautiful feed from Ross and seemed to break the Buckeye back. Regardless of the Quaker's continued scoring success, the real story of this game may have been the team's outstanding defensive play. In net, Back -- who had 14 saves in the season opener -- held Ohio State scoreless for 23 minutes in the first half and made three key stops right before the break. "I just have to be ready for every shot," Back, shrugging it off, said. "I wish I saved a couple more. But we compensated for each other and we work well together as a team." The entire defense -- including junior Jenni Leisman and freshmen Sara Evens and Amy Goh -- stuffed numerous promising Buckeye attacks. Time after time, they turned these around into speedy Quaker attacks heading the other way. Ohio State freshman attacker Erin Anderson was able to net three goals against the Quaker defense, but it was not nearly enough. On another note, in a big loss for the team, the Quakers learned before the game that they will be without midfielder Brooke Jenkins for the remainder of the season. The junior -- who was fourth on the team with 19 goals last season -- will undergo knee surgery as a result of an injury suffered in the closing minutes of the season opener. Nonetheless, the team responded very well in her absence. "This was a great comeback win. It's a 'W' and it's such a team confidence builder," Sage said. "Collectively they rallied and they played well together. We're getting better with each game."

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