W. Soccer falls one shot short

Quakers lose 3-2 to Villanova Hopefully Perry Cohen did not have nightmares. Nightmares of soccer balls flying at her face. According to the final stats compiled by Villanova coach Sheldon Chamberlain, Cohen faced 31 shots on goal last night at Franklin Field. That's compared to only three fired by the Quakers. Amazingly enough, Penn only lost 3-2. And it was that close. "You take three shots and get two goals, that's a great night for Penn and a difficult night for Villanova. We were lucky to get out of here with a win," Chamberlain said. For the second game in a row, Penn jumped out to a 1-0 lead. Less than two minutes into the match, freshman Darah Ross hit the back of the net with her first career goal. But the celebration didn't last long. Thirty five seconds later, Villanova's leading scorer, Marcy Micek, blasted one in from 30 yards away to tie the contest. "We started off with a bang, and then they turned around with the equalizer," Penn coach Patrick Baker said. "So that pretty much nullified jumping out to a quick start." After a flurry of opportunities by the Quakers, Ross nearly picked up her second goal of the evening on a breakaway, but the ball sailed wide left. Just minutes later in a nearly identical play, Micek missed just right on her own breakaway. Penn let the game slip out of their hands in more ways than one. On a seemingly harmless shot on goal, Cohen simply dropped the ball and the Quakers were suddenly playing catch up for the remainder of the contest. "[Cohen] was nervous early on," Baker said. "That second goal was unfortunate. She had an up-and-down game as she did versus West Chester. That is kind of where our team is now. We just have to find a medium and keep it level and consistent." After the Wildcats' second goal, the Penn offense went sour. And with four minutes to play in the first half 'Nova freshman Nicole Posillico broke free of two Quaker defenders and gave her team a 3-1 advantage entering the half. Coming out of the locker room, both teams played pretty conservative for the first 20 minutes. But in the 69th minute Ross experienced her own Sportscenter highlight. With the ball just about cleared from the Villanova zone, Ross came out of nowhere. The 5-foot-5 midfielder juked two defenders and seemingly dribbled through all of West Philadelphia before blasting her second goal. "She's dynamic up front," Baker said. "As a freshman, she does a lot of things that upperclassmen don't do. She takes on players and is poised under pressure." "A lot of players would have sent her second goal 20 yards over the goal or 10 yards wide," Baker continued. "She just tucked it in the far corner." "I was impressed with Dara's great play up front," sophomore Heather Herson said. "She's such a great player." The Quakers regained life after Ross' goal and nearly tied the game many times. And when the Quakers threatened, sophomore Yuka Morita was always near the action. The tireless forward played her heart out throughout the game despite countless confrontations with the officials. "Yuka is just as dynamic as Darah and she's got a little more flair," Baker said. "She's all over the place. Her will to win puts a little more pressure on her." "Tonight, she was very frustrated with the loss," Baker continued. "The effort and productivity she provides for us is unsurpassable." Losing one-goal games is hardly enjoyable. Especially when the loss comes at the hands of Villanova. This is the third year in a row the Wildcats have defeated Penn by one goal. And they almost didn't do it this year. But it's tough to win when you're outshot 31-3. Said Chamberlain: "Hey, if they would have had one more shot, it would have went in."