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09232012_Women's_Soccer_Harvard Credit: Laura Francis , Laura Francis

It wasn’t a statement victory, but it was a victory nonetheless.

Friday, the women’s soccer team beat Cornell, 2-1, in Ithaca, N.Y. Penn extended its Ivy winning streak to 7-0-1 with the win, the longest Ancient Eight streak in program history.

The Quakers resumed action Sunday with a home-game tune-up against NJIT, winning, 4-0.

“Regardless of the score, an Ivy League win on the road is a great result,” said Erin Beck, who had two shots on goal on Friday and an assist on Sunday. “To pair that with a convincing win on Sunday is even better.”

The action did not come for either side until the second half Friday, starting with a Claire Walker header in the 54th minute for Penn (6-4, 2-0 Ivy). Kerry Scalora had the assist off a corner kick.

“Even though we had good chances in the first half, we were still scoreless at half,” Beck said. “Getting an early goal in the second half helped with confidence to keep playing our game.”

Just over seven minutes later, Scalora netted a goal of her own off a corner kick from sophomore Megan York.

Cornell (0-10, 0-2) closed in on the Quakers with a goal with 11 minutes remaining on the clock, but the winless Big Red couldn’t take down Penn.

“Cornell’s goal toward the end of the second half definitely made the last 10 minutes scary,” Beck said. “We always say 2-1 is the most dangerous score in soccer, so we had to focus on some gamesmanship to run the clock down.”

The Big Red brought the heat in the second half, outshooting Penn, 12-10. In the end, however, the Quakers had the shooting edge, 18-16. Keeper Sarah Banks had six saves on the game.

If Friday wasn’t the statement victory the Red and Blue were hoping to make in the Ivy League, Sunday’s 4-0 win over NJIT (2-8-3) at home surely helped.

Penn got on the board early and often, scoring the most goals in a game all season. Though the offensive barrage didn’t come against an Ivy team like they may have hoped, shutting down a defense, making an offensive statement and allowing non-starters to log significant playing time was a win for the Quakers regardless.

Junior Kathryn Barth scored first for Penn in the fourth minute. Less than 10 minutes later, freshman Erin Mikolai headed one in the back of the net off a cross from Scalora.

Penn’s final two goals came in the last 15 minutes of regulation. Kaitlyn Moore headed a ball in for a score off a corner kick from Brianna Rano. Minutes later, Mikolai netted Penn’s fourth and final goal off a leave from Elissa Berdini.

Penn outshot NJIT, 22-6. Banks had just two saves in an easy day in goal.

The Quakers return to Ivy play Friday against Columbia at Rhodes Field. The Lions are also undefeated in league play so far.

SEE ALSO

Trost | Time to make an Ivy statement

Summer overseas gave women’s soccer players new perspective

Moore scores late game-winner for Penn women’s soccer

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