W. Lax cruises to easy victory

Due to a "lack of officials," the Penn women's lacrosse game Saturday against Cornell was delayed 45 minutes. And when the officials finally arrived at Franklin Field and the game began, it was the Quaker offense that was missing. After a sloppy first half, however, Penn put it together after intermission and cruised to a 16-7 victory. "We definitely played better in the second half than the first," Quaker sophomore attacker Amy Shapiro said. "At halftime, [the coaches] told us that we needed to get our throwing and catching back together, and that's what we did." It took them a while to do it, though. Cornell (0-1, 0-1 Ivy League) jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead, scoring twice in the game's first two minutes. Sophomore midfielder Jessica Gilhorn got the Quakers (2-2, 1-1) on the board soon after with a goal, and junior midfielder Lauren Mitchell's goal tied the game at two. The teams traded goals for the next 10 minutes, with neither team able to pull away from the other, until junior attacker Lori Frutkin found the ball in front of the goal and scored, putting Penn up for good, 6-5. Twenty-one seconds later, the Quakers tallied another goal, as freshman Amy Tarr scored with an assist from junior Melissa Sage. The final 10 minutes of the half produced a scoring drought for both teams. Neither squad was able to score, resulting in a halftime score of 7-5, Penn. It was a score that could have been worse for the Quakers -- numerous dropped passes gave Cornell several offensive possessions in the Penn zone. Quaker coach Anne Sage was at a loss to explain Penn's first-half play. "I think we were asleep or something," she said. "I don't know what the problem was. "I think in the first half we were very tentative. We had so much more ability, but they just didn't put it together. We're a much better team. In the second half, we just started passing and executing." That they did. The second half scoring opened when Gilhorn received a pass, cut across the middle of the Big Red defense, and scored. Minutes later, Mitchell scored again, with another assist from Melissa Sage, and the score was 9-5. Cornell scored two of the next three goals to tighten the score to 10-7, but that was as close as it got. With 16 minutes to go, Shapiro blew past two Big Red defenders and fired a shot past the goalie for another Penn goal. Minutes later sophomore Alanna Wren hit Shapiro with a pass up the middle, and Shapiro scored again, boosting the Quaker lead to 12-7. Cornell called timeout and set up one last effort to get back into the game. The Big Red won the draw and moved aggressively downfield, but its attempts to score were stymied by the Penn defense and sophomore goalie Alexis Seth, who made several saves in the second half. And when Frutkin scored with an assist from Shapiro to put the Quakers up 13-7 with seven minutes remaining, the game was essentially over. Coach Sage was pleased with the play of the team in the second half and hoped to see more of it. "I just think things opened up and they started playing like they're capable of playing," Sage said. "They have to get to the ball and make things happen, and that's what we weren't doing in the first half. "They were just scared and tentative. When we started penetrating and dumping we had no problem with Cornell, and that's what we have to do. We have to play aggressive and we've got to take control of the game, and that's what we did in the second half." Penn also improved its passing and catching in the second half, which, according to Shapiro, was important after two straight losses. "We moved the ball around better, and definitely were throwing and catching it better," Shapiro said. "After those past two games, we just knew we had to get it together." It may have taken the Quakers some time, but they did. · Penn will next host Temple today at 7 p.m. on Franklin Field. Playing the nationally-ranked Owls will be a challenge, Sage said. "They're a Top 10 team," Sage said. "They're very good, very aggressive. We'll have to play well to beat Temple."