ON THE SIDELINES: Shutout doesn't satisfy Penn "D"

It takes a lot to satisfy a winner. Most teams would be thrilled holding opponents to four goals in five games. Not the Penn field hockey team. Despite posting its second consecutive shutout in Sunday's 1-0 victory over Dartmouth, the solid Quaker defense still sees room for improvement. Keyed by the steadying influence of junior goalie Suzy Pures, the Penn defense has not yielded more than two goals in any game this season. The Quaker coaching staff, however, still isn't quite sure whether this has been due to outstanding defensive or offensive play. "I think right now there's a little bit of panic on defense," Penn coach Anne Sage said. "The stability has been from our goalie. It's funny because two-thirds of all the games we've been on attack and that time where there is that transition play, that fast-break, we have to handle it with a little more thought." Doing most of the thinking for the Quaker defense is Pures. The Penn goalie is the player responsible for calling out all of the defensive assignments and alerting the defense of oncoming attackers. Pures also realizes that since she is the last line of defense and the team's defensive leader, her attitude has an enormous affect on her teammates. "If I lose it, then everybody loses it," Pures said. "If they hear excitement in my voice, then they get excited and upset. It flusters everyone. I have to learn to keep my voice calm and assertive. The majority of our defense is them listening to me for instructions." Despite playing five games so far this season, Pures and the defense have still been relatively untested. With the consistent Quaker offensive attack controlling the ball for the majority of every game, no opponent has yet been able to apply sustained pressure in the Quaker zone. For instance, in yesterday's shutout the Big Green only had the ball long enough to unleash seven shots – and most of those were far from threatening. "I think Suzy Pures is doing a superb job," Sage said. "I think we're still sorting out the team defense because we're only in defense during breakaways. Therefore, it's something we have to look at in terms of defense under pressure, defense in recovery." Erasing many of the defensive mistakes that have occurred under pressure has been Pures. Pures has stopped numerous opponent scoring chances and has been extremely reliable in clearing the ball out of the Quaker zone. While she hasn't been called upon to make too many outstanding saves thus far, Pures has proven more than capable in protecting the Penn cage. "[Suzy] has been very stable, which has been a really good thing for the team," Penn goalie coach Yanicke Bernel said. "She's there. She doesn't do the flashy things. She does the consistent things. I'll take a consistent goalie over a flashy goalie anyday." Pures hasn't had to be flashy yet and the Quakers hope she will not have to be in the future. A key determinant of this will be how well Pures can communicate what she sees to the defense. This is crucial because when Pures talks, people listen. "[Suzy] controls what happens in the circle," senior co-captain and defender Missy Hecht said. "When she calls the ball or she's directing people back there, when she says 'Go,' people go. The communication improved a lot today." So did the overall defense. In shutting out and shutting down the Big Green, Dartmouth was not even able to amount a serious scoring threat. There were not even any breakaways that the Quakers had to worry about recovering from. The consistent defense could not come at a better time for Penn, as in the last two games the Quaker attack has accounted for only two goals. There is clearly no room for defensive lapses when a team wins two consecutive games by identical 1-0 scores. Obviously, the Quakers would like to have a little more breathing room, but if the goal-scoring continues to sputter, the Penn defense will continue to have to perform in the clutch. The "D" has delivered so far, and the Quakers hope it will continue to stay cool in the fire. "When you're out there, you don't really think about the pressure," Pures said. "Sure you consider the score, you consider the time, but if you lose your head, you're no good out on the field. All together, we've managed to keep our cool."