As the Penn women's lacrosse team lined up to face No. 3 Princeton yesterday, the bitter taste from Saturday's 14-4 loss to Dartmouth still lingered in the mouths of the Red and Blue. Penn entered yesterday's Franklin Field contest as a heavy underdog. The Quakers, still winless in the Ivy League, faced the defending national champion Princeton Tigers. However the Red and Blue, clearly exploiting the home-field advantage, played with poise and purpose, determined to stay with the mighty Tigers. At the half the Quakers seemed destined to succeed -- the score stood at 6-4, Princeton. Unfortunately for Penn, there was a second half. Princeton scored seven goals in that second half, including five unanswered, to win the game 13-6, leaving the Quakers slightly disappointed and extremely exhausted, but cautiously optimistic. The mixed emotions echoed throughout a Penn squad that was inspired by the first half performance, but dismayed by the overall result. "It was a great effort," said Lori Frutkin, who led the Penn attack with three goals. "As we developed confidence we began to execute well and just came up short in the second half." Penn hopes the game serves as notice to the teams remaining on its schedule that they will be facing an opponent who can consistently play on a level with the powerhouses of women's lacrosse. "Knowing you can play well makes you play better," defender Kelly McCollian said. "We played on a higher level today than we have all season, and that's important heading into the Brown game this weekend." The error-free first half left many team members optimistic. After a difficult stretch of games including the likes of No. 2 Dartmouth and No. 3 Princeton, each of the remaining four games is significantly more winnable. "We hung with them in the first half and it motivated us," attacker Katie Burg said. "We showed that we have the skill, desire and intensity because of our performance today." In a day filled with highlights and high hopes, one glaring negative jumped out from the team's performance yesterday. The contest featured a whopping 34 Red and Blue turnovers, most in the second half, which contributed to Penn's eventual undoing. "We were in reach of the win and we just didn't execute," attacker Alanna Wren said. "We had some problems with fundamentals, which they avoided." The Quakers had been averaging over 20 turnovers per game, a number coach Anne Sage has been furiously attempting to reduce. Despite the sloppy play, Sage was still pleased by her team's performance yesterday. "We played hard and should feel good about our effort in matching up with Princeton," Sage said. "I'm pleased that we met the challenge led by a solid defense and great play in goal." Defender Christine Walker, a key to the Red and Blue's emergence defensively, spoke her mind about the Princeton game. "We kept the intensity because everyone stepped up," she said. "We came together as a team." The fine effort posted by the Quakers yesterday was a pleasant surprise to many of the lacrosse faithful, but Lauren Mitchell knew the team could play with Princeton. "We have the will to win and the desire to prove our abilities," Mitchell said. "We had fire in our eyes today."
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