Penn freshmen continue to put the Ivy League on watch.
Two first-years, Kayla Padilla and Kai Lammers, were each awarded Ivy League Rookie of the Week on Monday following wins from women’s basketball and men’s soccer, respectively.
Padilla, a guard from California, is the first Quaker to be named Rookie of the Week for women's basketball since the 2017-18 season, when Eleah Parker won the award several times. In just 29 minutes of play against NJIT, Padilla scored a game-high 25 points, including shooting 5-for-9 from three-point range. She also added four assists, three rebounds, and a steal in the contest.
Padilla also became the first Penn player since Diana Caramanico in 1997-98 to score 25 points in one of her first two games. Her 39 points through two contests were the most since Kirsten Brendel scored 54 in her first two games in the 1987-88 season.
Padilla followed up this performance with 14 more points in Penn's 74-42 win over Iona, adding five rebounds and five assists in the contest as well. The freshman's play has pushed the Quakers to their first 3-0 start in program history.
For men’s soccer, Lammers, a defender from Connecticut, put the Quakers up early against Harvard after connecting off a free kick from senior midfielder Brandon Bartel. The Red and Blue never gave this lead up all game, defeating Harvard by a score of 2-0. The goal was Lammers' second on the season, bookending a year in which he scored a goal in his first contest. Both of his goals this season came off assists from Bartel.
Lammers' play helped Penn finish in second place in the Ivy League this season, the team's highest finish since they last won the title in 2013.
Although the season is over for Lammers, Padilla will look to build off this strong performance to keep the Quakers undefeated.
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