W. Soccer tops Columbia for 2nd Ivy win ever

Anne Davies could not stop jumping up and down on the sidelines. Davies was hugging everyone in sight. Her face had a grin from ear to ear. But with 1 minute, 11 seconds left in the game, Davies, along with everyone else on the Penn bench, felt their hearts stop. Although the Quakers were leading 4-0, a Columbia forward was ready to fire away at Penn freshman goalie Perry Cohen from about four feet away. The same freshman keeper who has been battling injuries during the past couple weeks. The same freshman keeper who guaranteed a win against Bucknell, only to lose 4-1. The same freshman keeper who entered the game with a 3.62 goals against average. Fate must have been with the Red and Blue last night. Cohen stopped the shot cold and preserved the shutout, 4-0, for only Penn's second Ivy victory in its four-year varsity history. The Quakers (2-7, 1-3 Ivy League) went out last night and proved the critics wrong. Sure, Soccer America wrote nearly a book about every Ivy League team -- except for the Red and Blue. The only mention of the Quakers was its 1-7 record and that it had only scored two goals in Ivy play. Penn doubled that total last night. "I was extremely happy at the end of the game," Davies said. "It was awesome. This is incredible. Four-to-zero, this is our first big Ivy League win. I can't even describe it. It's an incredible feeling." The Quakers struck early and often. Only 1:40 into the game, junior Meg Kinney hit Davies off a corner kick and Penn never looked back. Completely dominating the time of possession and shots on goal, the Quakers excelled in every aspect of the game. Penn has had problems finishing scoring opportunities, but that was not evident last night. Freshman Darah Ross continued to shine, scoring her team-leading fourth goal of the year in the 13th minute. Along with sophomore Yuka Morita up front, the Quakers have assembled a potentially lethal scoring combination. Kinney and sophomore Michelle Lenihan also added goals. Lenihan, who did not enter the game until 10 minutes were left and the outcome was all but decided, blasted a goal from 20 yards out. "I'm really excited. I think it's an awesome turnaround for the team that we got a win finally in the Ivies, and by so many goals," Lenihan said. "Hopefully this will be a turning point in the season and we can get going now. My goal was no big deal, because it was the fourth one, but it is always nice to get a goal." Along with dominating the offensive side of the field, the Penn defense was a brick wall. Sweeper Wendy Bass cleared virtually everything in sight and continued to earn praise from coach Patrick Baker. Sophomore Jill Brown blanketed the Lions' best player, Dana Sassara, and nullified Columbia's attack. "Brown did a great job on their forward, who had been creating havoc," Baker said. "Their goalkeeper had already been Ivy League Player of the Week, and we put in four goals against her. Wendy Bass keeps getting better and better. She's doing fantastic for us." With 10 minutes left, freshmen Hollie Evans, Jennifer Wurmbrand, Sabrina Lowe and Johanna Matloff began to warm up on the sidelines. Sure, they had seen time before, and it was usually at about the same time during the game, but the Quakers weren't usually winning. And the whole bench was not standing up in anticipation for the final seconds to tick off. And Meg Kinney did not usually have a huge smile on her face when she walked off the field. Last night was different.