Delaware pummels W. Soccer

The Penn women's soccer team had won three out of its last four games, and scored 17 goals in its three wins. Freshman Darah Ross and sophomore Yuka Morita were leading the team up the college ranks. The Quakers had been playing respectable soccer. Then there was last night. The Quakers were pummeled, 4-1, by Delaware at Franklin Field. Penn (4-9-0) made a conscious effort to come out in the first 15 minutes and play heads-up soccer with the hope of not falling into its common habit of having to play catch-up. But Delaware (14-1-1) had other plans. Eight minutes, 54 seconds into the game, Delaware scored the first of its three goals off corner kicks. "Our effort was apathetic," Penn coach Patrick Baker said. "It is frustrating because their first effort of the night goes into the back of the net. They are no better than we are. We have put forth the effort in prior games, and tonight, for whatever reason, the effort was not there." Although Baker preached a "no excuses" attitude about his team's performance, several players pointed to a glaring mix-up. Last night's game had originally been scheduled for tonight, and at Sunday's practice, many players were shocked to hear the game had been switched. But Baker believes his players have been playing soccer long enough to prepare for a game in 24 hours. Nevertheless, the Quakers came out flat. After falling behind early, Penn did threaten in the first half, but was not able to get on the board. Still, the Red and Blue only trailed 1-0 at the half. Down by only one goal with 45 minutes still to play, the Quakers had an opportunity to get back in the game. Instead, they let Delaware take control of the second half. "We were not really happy with the way we played," junior Amaryllis Seabrooks said. "When we were down 1-0, I felt like if we could have just put one in, we would have had a chance. It would have picked up the team, but there wasn't really a spark to get us going." If there was any spark last night, it was a familiar one -- namely, freshman Darah Ross. Ross scored her team-leading ninth goal late in the game off a perfectly executed pass from Seabrooks. Ross continued to shine up front as she was practically the entire Penn offense last night. Both Seabrooks and sophomore Wendy Bass have taken on larger roles in Baker's new system. Moving Seabrooks from midfield to forward has made her feel more at home and the results have been eye-opening. In the Quakers' win against Drexel, she recorded her first career hat trick. "Coach Baker has taught me a lot about the game," Seabrooks said. "It's a different style of play than I am used to, but I am getting more accustomed as I play more and more with the team. I feel very comfortable up top playing with Yuka and Darah. We have gelled really well." Bass' role has changed 180 degrees since last year. In 1993, she did not get any playing time, mired on the bench in misery. But this year she has gotten her chance at sweeper. Although she has been critical of her effort of late, her defense has been a plus. But, with few exceptions, last night's performance by the Quakers was not an impressive one. The offense was stagnant, the defense was porous and the goaltending was not up to par. "The effort has got to be there, and it was not," Baker said. "We gave a very lackadaisical effort and there are no excuses. I will take some what of the responsibility, but you can only shake your head and ask, 'How can it be?' "