FIELD HOCKEY RES VS. WEST CHESTER: F. Hockey shuts out Rams

Two goals are better than one. For a little while it appeared that the Penn field hockey team was on its way to a fourth straight 1-0 win. The pattern was broken for the better, however, as junior midfielder Amy Pine netted her sixth goal of the season with 9:45 remaining to break the one-goal streak and seal the Quakers' 2-0 victory over West Chester Saturday on Franklin Field. It took a while for the Penn offense to put the ball in the cage, but sophomore defender Sue Quinn's goal with 25:09 remaining in the contest was all the help the Quaker defense needed. The steadily improving Penn defense posted its fourth consecutive shutout and limited the Golden Rams (3-4-1) to only eight shots on goal. Junior goalie Suzy Pures played superbly between the pipes and the fired up Quakers (6-1) stymied a potent West Chester offense. "Our defense did really well considering their offensive line was very strong," Quinn said. "Our marking was really good. We weren't even realizing that we had all these shutouts. We just played really well together as a team." While Penn was holding the Golden Rams scoreless, the Quakers failed to score in the first half for the fifth-straight game. Both second-half goals game off corners, an area in which Penn is now converting with much greater success. With Pine temporarily out of the game with a hand injury, Quinn stepped up to reap the rewards of taking a corner. She didn't miss out on her chance as she took junior Mandy Kauffman's pass and swiftly fired it into the back of the cage to break the scoreless deadlock. Fifteen minutes later Quinn then teamed up with Pine on a beautiful give-and-go to round out the scoring and give Penn the 2-0 win. "We have a lot of opportunities and finally we're taking advantage of them," Kauffman said. "Especially on the corners, because that's been a strong point. The batteries we have operating have been up there for the past two years and finally we're starting to capitalize on them. Amy and Sue – the timing was just perfect." A key ingredient to the Quaker win was the renewed attitude that the team took into the contest. Penn played with a drive that has been missing so far this season. The team seemed to know that it was not going to let the Golden Rams score and that it was going to break out of the one-goal funk. "Today we had to get the job done and I liked the intensity level," Penn coach Anne Sage said. "I'm getting tired of these 0-0 games and I think for the first time I saw intensity. You've got to get out there and kick ass. You can't be nice guys about it." The Quaker defense certainly wasn't nice to West Chester. Penn held the Golden Rams to only two shots in the first half and most of West Chester's chances came on corners after the outcome was decided. Still the Quakers were relentless, shutting down four Golden Ram corners in the final five minutes. The defense was communicating and clearing the ball effectively, and everybody played a role. "Everyone's starting to play defense," Kauffman said. "Not just the back line, but the middle and front line. Everyone's clear with marking as far as who they're picking up in the circle. Suzy's really talking well. On their corners our defense is really getting out there. We're finally starting to really come together." Penn hopes that the game was also a breakthrough for its offense. For the first time since the 4-0 defeat of Delaware in the second game of the year, the Quakers managed to score more than a single goal. While Penn only opened up the two-goal lead late in the game, the extra cushion provides the team with several advantages and helps to reduce tension. "You can do a lot more with two goals," Kauffman said. "You really have to still play hard, but you can sub in and take a lot more risks on both the defensive and offensive ends. It does feel a lot better. Now we just have to start scoring in the first half." The extra goals should also go a long way in boosting the offense's confidence. Penn has improved its corner success rate dramatically and the Quakers are passing the ball much more quickly. The players are feeling more comfortable with each other and the attack is due to explode. "It just shows that our offense is getting a lot stronger," Quinn said. "We're getting more goals in the cage. We were more aggressive today than usual. We felt more confident." Another unique element to Saturday's game was that while the game was played on Franklin Field, Penn wasn't the home team. The Quakers dressed in their road blue and the Golden Rams sported their white outfits. The contest which was originally scheduled to be played at West Chester had to be moved due to unplayable field conditions. Even though Penn will take credit for a quasi-road win, the Quakers took another step up the mountain. Having taken six of its first seven games, Penn has developed a controlled style of play while completely dominating its opponents. "We're happy," Sage said. "We're maturing and we're developing. We're getting consistency now and team-play defense. We want a controlled aggression. The team has confidence and there's team maturity now. I think that's very important." So was putting the streak of 1-0 victories to rest.

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