Feeble Crimson can't stop the W. Lax Express

The Penn women's lacrosse team has swept its longest road trip of the year. And if its form in these games is any measure, the winning could continue for a while.

In the last leg of the four-game swing on Saturday, the No. 11 Quakers (10-1, 3-0 Ivy) continued to dominate the Ivy League, pounding Harvard, 15-3.

Penn - off to its best start in school history - extended its winning streak to six, capping off a road trip that included impressive victories over No. 13 Johns Hopkins and No. 10 Penn State.

In fact, over the last four contests the Quakers - one of the hottest teams in the nation - have outscored their opponents 57-18, even though they emptied their bench against Harvard and Columbia.

Coach Karin Brower noted that the team is happy to be back in Philadelphia for the next few weeks, but the long stretch away from home certainly could have been worse.

"It wasn't that bad," she said. "When you win it makes everything easier."

In the first lacrosse game held at newly-renovated Harvard Stadium since 1983, the Crimson (2-7, 0-2) never stood a chance, failing to record a single goal until deep into the second half.

Smothering defense and strong play in net from junior Sarah Waxman allowed the Quakers' offense to take control of the game. Waxman gave up only two goals in over 43 minutes of action, making five saves before being relieved by freshman Emily Szelest, who stopped four shots.

"[Waxman] did a great job of being the leader back there," Brower said. "This unit is playing very well, which is great."

Offensively, juniors Melissa Lehman and Rachel Manson headed up the Quakers' attack, each earning hat tricks.

It took a while for Penn to get on the board, but junior Chelsea Kocis's first of two goals - coming 12 minutes into the game - opened the floodgates.

The Quakers went on to net nine more goals in the first half alone. In one first-half run, Penn scored four times in four minutes, as sophomores Becca Edwards and Kaitlyn Lombardo, along with Manson, all found the back of the net.

Though the pace died down a bit in the second half, the Red and Blue closed the game out on another run with tallies from Kocis, Manson and junior Kaitlin Farmer.

The Quakers managed to outshoot Harvard 35-16, and they recorded 21 first-half shots while Harvard could muster just four.

"We were stronger at every position on the field," Waxman said.

In order for Penn to take the Ivy League title, however, it will need to overcome a huge obstacle next Saturday when it hosts No. 16 Dartmouth, which made it all the way to the National Championship final last season. That difficult match up will be followed up by another important test against No. 9 Princeton.

"The next two coming up are the most difficult of the season," Brower said. "These are two games we've been looking forward to since last year."

And according to Waxman, the team will be more than ready to do battle.

"We have a whole week of practice to refocus all of our energy," she said. "We will definitely be prepared."

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