Penn field hockey stays aggressive, undefeated

Cole’s got goals.

Penn’s emerging freshman attack Jasmine Cole put up a hat trick to lead the Quakers to a 5-2 victory on the road against city rival St. Joseph’s. The Quakers (2-0) remain undefeated on the road to begin their 2013 campaign.

The Red and Blue got off to a hot start, scoring three unanswered goals in the first 10 minutes of the game. Junior Emily Corcoran struck first, cashing in on a breakaway just a minute into the contest. Cole made it 2-0 several minutes later. St. Joseph’s (0-5) responded by pulling junior goalie Rachel Barnett and inserting inexperienced freshman Amelia Deibler.

But the switch did not help out the Hawks. Cole scored again soon after the goalie substitution, this time following her own rebound to find the net.

Coach Colleen Fink had high praise for Cole after the win.

“She has incredible speed on the ball,” Fink said. “Her teammates look for her in scoring positions because they know she’s such a threat.” Fink also added that the Quakers’ leading scorer “has a knack for finishing.”

The game was far from over after Cole’s second goal, however. The Hawks’ Jordan Martin scored her first goal of the year to put St. Joe’s on the board at the 16:40 mark. Senior Shannon McNeil scored soon afterwards for the Hawks to make it 3-2, but that’s the closest the game would get.

The Quakers applied more offensive pressure at the end of the first half, and freshman Elise Tilton extended the Penn lead to two goals off an assist from senior captain Julie Tahan. Cole scored her third goal less than a minute into the second half to give the Quakers a comfortable three-goal cushion. No more scoring ensued for the rest of the afternoon.

Penn’s offense continued to execute, submitting another impressive five-goal performance. The squad has been putting pressure on opponents’ goalies more often this year, with an average of 20.5 shots per Game compared to last season’s average of 13.5. Freshmen Tilton and Cole continued their scoring habits. Veterans Tahan and Hitti played more of a complementary role.

The Quakers defense showed improvement from the beginning, allowing half as many goals and suffering fewer breakdowns. Penn goalkeeper Carly Sokach made seven saves and blanked the still-winless Hawks in the second half.

“We had a very clear vision for what we wanted to accomplish defensively,” Fink said.

A Sunday road matchup at 1 p.m., against Bucknell (2-2) now awaits the surging Quakers.

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