Yale jumps all over W. Soccer

"Frustrating." The words of Penn women's soccer coach Patrick Baker reflected the feelings of the entire team after a 3-1 loss to Yale Saturday. "We dug ourselves a hole in the beginning of the game," Baker said. "We talked about not giving them any undue confidence. We gave up two goals right away and its done." In the beginning of the game, Yale scored two goals almost immediately. Elis sophomore Molly Woodruffe converted another opportunity and at halftime the Quakers (4-10, 1-5 Ivy League) found themselves on the short end of a 3-0 game. "It just seems that at opportunistic times, we're not finding the right options," Baker said. "We were missing that last piece of the puzzle. We had three very good chances to put the ball in the back of the net in the first half." "If we had come out better in the first half," junior Amaryllis Seabrooks said, "we could have come out with a win. When they went down, they finished. But when we went down, we didn't finish." The Penn team dejectedly entered the halftime huddle and received some words of advice from Baker. Along came the second half and, with a fresh clock, came a completely regenerated Quakers squad. But by that point, it was just too late. "We raised the level of intensity and played a lot better," sophomore Lisa Paster said. Penn had plenty of opportunities during the second half, but converted only one. With 24 minutes left, Seabrooks, off an assist by freshman Darah Ross, sent the ball to the back of the net. However, a failure to score off several great chances, including two penalty kicks, kept the Quakers from re-entering the game. The ball remained in the Yale zone for the majority of the half, and the Quakers seemingly dominated Yale (5-9, 2-4). "Their keeper came up with three very nice saves to keep them in it," Baker said, "But our lack of finishing ability didn't help." Despite a shaky effort against the Elis, the Quakers remain confident they can set the program record for wins in a season against Princeton. "I think the group has come a long way, but by no means am I happy with losses," Baker said. "We're going to work our tails off for Princeton." Baker's group, scoring 29 goals this season for the highest count in its brief history, has made many strides since the beginning of the season. But Penn has only one more opportunity to set the record for wins in a season and cannot afford to put on another frustrating performance.

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