Penn women's lacrosse dominates Rutgers 17-7

Now, the games really count.

Penn women’s lacrosse will dip into Ivy play on Saturday for the first time in the 2015 season, as it travels to take on Brown. But first, the Quakers had a bit of nonconference business to finish up on Wednesday.

The Quakers used an 11-3 halftime lead to cruise to a 17-7 midweek victory over Rutgers. With the win, the Red and Blue pushed their season-opening winning streak to three and seem to be firing on all cylinders as they begin their pursuit of an unprecedented ninth consecutive Ivy title.

“I thought we came out right off the bat, ready to go,” coach Karin Corbett said of Wednesday’s victory. “I really like how sharp we looked.”

Senior attack Tory Bensen and junior attack Iris Williamson each notched five goals for the Red and Blue in Wednesday’s win against the Scarlet Knights (1-4), joining a total of eight Penn players who found the back of the net. Ten different members of the program have now scored throughout the 2015 season.

“It just goes to show how much depth we have in our attack,” noted Bensen, who now has a team-high 13 goals on the year. “It’s so hard to predict who will come up big for us on any given day.”

“We really have a lot of depth this season,” Corbett added. “We have a lot of young players who have a lot of potential. We have plenty of kids who can put the ball in the net.”

For Williamson, the five goals set a career high. Junior midfield Nina Corcoran, the defending Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week, notched a career-high five assists and moved into ninth-place on Penn’s all-time assists leaderboard.

“It’s really great that our offense doesn’t just revolve around one person,” Bensen noted. “We have a ton of players with lots of skill who are capable of getting assists or scoring goals.”

Bensen, of course, was the hero of the Red and Blue’s victory over Vanderbilt last Sunday when she scored the game-winning goal with four seconds left in overtime. The Quakers hope that the Darien, Conn., native can continue her recent success as she leads Penn’s balanced attack into Providence to take on undefeated Brown.

The Bears (3-0) are led by midfield Lauren Toy. The junior has notched a team-high eight goals and three assists over the course of Brown’s three wins, each of which has come by at least four goals.

Although the Bears finished seventh in the Ancient Eight last season with a 2-5 conference record, Corbett acknowledges that they will be a tough opponent, especially on home turf.

“Obviously, as defending champs, they’ll be gunning for us, and they’ve shown that they’re very capable of winning games,” she said.

However, the Quakers have plenty of reason to be confident heading into league play. Fueled by the starpower of veterans such as Bensen, Corcoran and senior defense Meg Markham, the Red and Blue are undoubtedly in the driver’s seat of the Ivy League.

“I think if we go out there and play clean and play smart, we’ll be just fine at the end of the day,” Corbett said.

A ninth consecutive Ivy title would be an incredible accomplishment for the Quakers. The road to that goal starts Saturday.

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