CLUB ROUNDUP: W. Hockey splits final weekend

The Penn women's hockey club team needed a sweep of last weekend's games in order to finish at .500 for the season. It looked promising for the Quakers after Saturday's blowout. Unfortunately for Penn, Sunday's game did not go as well, and the team ended the year with a loss, and a 5-7 record. "Our overall record is not a good reflection of our season," coach Scott Armstrong said. "We took a 1-4 mark after the first semester and turned it into a 5-7 season. That shows a lot of improvement." That improvement was clear Saturday, when Penn defeated the Chesapeake Bay Lightning 7-1, a team it also beat three weeks ago 4-0. That score could have been a lot worse if Chesapeake goalie Mary Nash had not shown up. Nash saved 48 of 55 Quaker shots. "We usually shoot down low and that's where she is strongest," Armstrong said. "She had such a good game I went over and congratulated her after." The Quakers did not let Nash's play stop them, as they kept the pressure on, and scored four goals in the first period. Co-captain Jen Shi gave the team a 1-0 lead on an unassisted goal. Shortly after, Ari Schoen took the pass from teammate Robin Leone and deposited the puck in the net to get the Quakers on their way. At the other end of the ice, the defense only allowed five shots on freshman goalie Cathy Gray, playing goal for the first time because first-string goalie Jen Miller injured herself shoveling snow. Penn was led in the scoring department by Bobbie Adams, who racked up two goals and an assist. Coach Armstrong and assistant coach Brandon Power praised the the play of the entire team. "During our one penalty, we outshot them 6-0 while we were down a man," Power said following the Saturday afternoon contest. "I think that shows how much we dominated." The coaching staff decided to try a switch Sunday, putting Gray back in her normal forward position and Shi into the net. "At the start of the game, I was really nervous. I think I lost three pounds of sweat," Shi said. "I played softball in high school so I tried to pretend the puck was a grounder." For whatever reason, the move didn't work out well for the team, as Penn dropped the game to the Devils, a club team from New Jersey, by a 7-0 mark. "We played good through the first two periods but suffered a letdown at the end of the game," Power said. "Jen played outstanding. They were just a good team." Although Sunday's game marked the end of the regular season for Penn, the Quakers are hoping to continue playing. They are exploring several possibilities, including a tournament in Pittsburgh in late March.