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W. Soccer 9/23 Credit: Muyi Li , Muyi Li

Still smarting from a loss against Harvard, the Penn women’s soccer team came home to Rhodes Field on Sunday and ended the weekend on a high note with a 3-0 victory over Youngstown State.

The Quakers (6-2-0, 0-1 Ivy) looked like their old selves against the Penguins (3-5-2), with a dynamic offense and an airtight defense that limited Youngstown’s shots on goal to a mere five, four of those in the second half. Penn took 13 shots in the first half and 12 in the second, with all three goals coming within the first 35 minutes.

Coach Darren Ambrose knew he had to make some changes after dropping games against both George Mason last week and Harvard on Friday, and he recognized how important this win was for the team.

“We poured our hearts into the Harvard game,” he said, “and to come back 48 hours later and play again, that’s tough. But we responded really well today. We kept them on their heels and we played our game.”

He also commended the offense for their efforts.

“We didn’t really generate a lot of attack against Harvard,” he said. “We weren’t able to keep the ball, we got into a track meet against them. But today we kept the ball really well, we stayed focused and we gave ourselves a lot of good opportunities to score.”

Freshman forward Megan York — who scored Penn’s third goal in the 35th minute off a through ball from junior midfielder Erin Beck — said Penn’s increased aggression was what brought them the win.

“Coming off a tough loss, we knew we had to get more intense,” she said. “We had to get back to us and how we play. They were being very physical, but we couldn’t let ourselves get caught up in that.”

Senior forward Marin McDermott, who picked up her second assist of the season on a cross to freshman Callan Parra, said the team did what it needed to do to get back on track.

“We knew we had to play quicker and move the ball so we could come back and show ourselves,” she said. “We’re playing Cornell on Friday, and we’re going to need to work hard all week to get ready for that.”

Ambrose also pointed out how important his younger players were in the game. With a lot of the veteran players sitting out because of injuries, Ambrose had to rely on freshmen and sophomores to fill the holes.

“There were a lot of freshmen on the field today,” he said. “They were unsure out there at first. But they stepped up, they got used to the speed of the game and how we play, and now we know we can count on them.”

The win marks the seventh-straight victory for the Quakers at Rhodes Field, and they have yet to give up a goal at home in five matches. The Red and Blue are at home twice this weekend, playing their second conference match against Cornell on Friday. The Big Red are currently on a four-game losing skid with an overall record of 2-8-0, 0-1 Ivy.

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