F. Hockey wins in Ivy League opener

A win is a win is a win, or so to speak. For the Penn field hockey team, though, Sunday's 1-0 win over Dartmouth (0-1 Ivy League, 1-4 overall) at Franklin Field served only to underscore a number of problems that the Quakers (1-0, 4-1) will have to address to return to the top of the Ivy League. Or will they? Despite an inability to capitalize on offensive opportunities, a defense vulnerable to opposing fast breaks and problems with scoring on penalty corners, Penn keeps on winning. In fact, except for one game – a 2-1 loss to William & Mary that will haunt the Quakers all season – these problems haven't mattered at all. They didn't keep Penn from winning Sunday, after all. For example, with 19 minutes to play, Penn broke the aforementioned penalty corner scoring drought. Up to that point, Penn had failed to convert seven corners, in large part due to Dartmouth goalie Lauren Demski. The sophomore, who holds almost every one of the Big Green's single-season goalkeeping records, had been impenetrable up to that point in the game. The Quakers had tried nearly everything to get it past her, including junior midfielder Amy Pine's high floating flick on their sixth try. This unusual shot is usually lethal but this time flew over the cage by almost 10 feet. On their eighth corner, however, the Quakers pulled a new play from their bag of tricks. Junior defender Mandy Kaufman's push went towards sophomore defender Sue Quinn, where junior midfielder Lily Ma stopped it. Quinn then whiffed intentionally and tapped the ball to her left, where Pine fired it to the right of a diving Demski for her fourth goal of the season. "The trailer on my side wasn't rushing all the way up," Pine said. "If they don't rush up that far to that side, we usually try a pass to throw off the flyer." Pine had an even better scoring chance later in the first half. On a corner, Kaufman pushed it out to Pine, who tapped it back to Kaufman. Her shot was saved by the goalie, who then fell on it. The referee awarded Penn a penalty stroke, but Pine flicked it over the right corner of the cage. The Quakers also made changes in their offensive strategy to try to alleviate the lack of scoring. By bringing the ball farther up the field, Penn hoped to create more opportunities inside the circle. Unfortunately, it failed to bear fruit. "It's just a different style of play," Pine said. "We thought that if we carried it more into the circle and pulled the defenders in, as opposed to playing off us, they'd have to mark up instead of just playing the ball in." Pine also addressed Penn's inability to score despite numerous opportunities. "I just think it's something we've got to start working on together. It's just something that's missing right now but I think is we keep working they're eventually going to go in." At any rate, though, the Quakers spent almost the entire game on Dartmouth's half of the field. To wit, Penn had 13 shots to the Big Green's seven, and nine penalty corners to Dartmouth's five. In terms of time of possession and time in the offensive zone, there was no doubt that the Quakers had an indisputable advantage. This offensive domination and control contributed greatly to the shutout, which was junior goalie Suzy Pures' third of the year and second in a row. Despite the win, though, the Quakers are going to have to score more often if they hope to repeat as Ivy champs and clinch an NCAA bid. "I'm happy, because an Ivy win is always a good win," Pine said. "But I think we should have scored a lot more. It's the same thing – each game, we keep needing to put more goals in."