W. Lax comes up short of high hopes

Hartford, Conn. The up-and-down season that was Penn women's lacrosse came to an end when the Quakers lost to Lafayette April 21, extinguishing their two-game winning streak. But the Lafayette loss in the final home game of the season was one of the few downers of the season. The Quakers (8-6, 3-3 Ivy League) had more highlights this season than any in recent memory. They defeated Temple for the first time in five years in a 12-10 overtime thriller sparked by junior attacker Lori Frutkin, the team's leading scorer. "That was the most exciting thing to happen to Penn lacrosse in years," Penn coach Anne Sage said. "It was just too exciting. I still can't believe it." It's not that the Quakers were not good enough to compete with Temple, then ranked No. 14 in the nation. Led by senior captains Missy Hecht, Sabrina Walheim and Fran Maguire, this was the most talented Quaker squad to take to the turf in years. "We definitely had the potential this year," freshman goaltender Liz Cornfield said. "We played well in spurts, but sometimes we did not play so well." The Quakers were often their own worst enemy. Often they would play only half of the game, sitting back on their heels and letting opponents dictate the tempo. Despite the team's inconsistencies, Penn did manage to come out on a cold March afternoon and triumph over then-No. 3 Yale. As was often the case, supreme performances all around, particularly from sophomore goaltender Alexis Seth and the arsenal of talented young goal scorers -- freshman attacker Amy Tarr, sophomore attacker Amy Shapiro and sophomore midfielder Jess Gilhorn -- led to the victory. Most importantly, the Quakers improved on last season's sub-par 6-9 finish. Penn has been on a steady ascent in recent years. Several seasons ago, the Quakers finished an abysmal 2-9. "Compared to last season, we played much better," Walheim said. "We played much more of a unit, instead of previous seasons when the team was very much divided by class."