W. Soccer falls, 4-0

It wasn't because of a lack of preparation. It wasn't because of a lack of effort. In fact, no one knows what caused Saturday's 4-0 loss to Cornell. "It's not that we played badly," junior co-captain Kelly Nolan said, "but when we let down, they took advantage of it. "We knew about their good players, so we knew what to expect. I don't think it was anything in particular. It just didn't come together for us." Things simply haven't been coming together for the Quakers lately. Penn is 0-3 this season (0-1 Ivy League) and has lost some hard-fought matches. The Quakers have been concentrating on fundamentals since Tuesday's loss to Villanova. Coach Patrick Baker has been receiving scouting reports about opposing teams. Morale is high. But for some reason, Penn hasn't been able to pull everything together and leave with a victory. "When we do the things we've been working on in practice, it really works," Nolan said, "but we have to be consistent in doing those kind of things. We have periods in the game when we're playing well and periods when we don't." The Big Red jumped out to an early 1-0 lead and by halftime they led 2-0. "After they scored the first goal, it shot our momentum," Nolan said. The Quakers simply couldn't penetrate the Cornell defense or handle its aggressive offense. "The score wasn't indicative of the game. I thought we played really well," sophomore Jill Brown said. "The Cornell team was really explosive. We did manage to get some things going and get some offense in. We just couldn't handle their attack." Penn will be practicing today for tomorrow's game against Bucknell, a team the Quakers feel is very beatable. "We know we're working hard and playing better so we're pretty much in good spirits," Brown said. "We've played three hard games and haven't come up with a win yet. "We're going to continue working on ground control of the ball and keeping our play consistent. We want to keep the times we're playing well, longer during the game." Nolan agrees the Quakers will continue to work as hard as ever and keep a positive outlook. "It's hard not to get down on yourself," Nolan said. "We're still looking for our first win. We're still going to be optimistic."

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