Quakers snap 5-game losing skid

The sound of one simple word echoed through chilly Franklin Field just before the Penn women's lacrosse team took the field for the second half of last night's game against West Chester. That word, "WIN!" -- something that had eluded the Quakers in the past five games -- was finally in their grasp, as they were resting on a 8-4 halftime lead against the Golden Rams. Last night, the midway point of the season, the Quakers were a transformed team. They played up to their potential for most of the game, breaking through double-teams, hitting passes both long and short, reducing the number of turnovers, aggressively fighting for loose balls and converting many of their shots into goals. Preparation for this game was nothing out of the ordinary, even a bit more relaxed than usual. Penn just played better and more consistently than it had in the past three games. "We just tried to prepare to get a win," Penn coach Anne Sage said. "We tried to step back practices, and take it easy." Penn cruised the entire way, building a quick 5-1 lead by the midpoint of the first half. From there, the Golden Rams tried to match goals with Penn, but the Red and Blue attack was too much for the West Chester squad to contain. The Quakers won 18-11. Attacker Lori Frutkin scored six goals, increasing her season total to 15 and bringing her within four goals of surpassing Julie Heller for fourth place on Penn's all-time career goal list.In addition, Melissa Sage contributed three goals and an assist. With those goals and freshman Emmy Hansel's breakaway speed, the Quakers found themselves being chased by the Rams, but never caught. The most important aspect of the Quakers' game last night was how they executed efficiently as a team. "Our passing, catching and transition game worked as a team," goalie Alexis Seth said. "We played a good game, but I still think we should be playing a little better." The fact West Chester is a Division II team and does not match up to the rest of Penn's competition in no way takes away from last night's victory. "West Chester is an easy team," Sage explained. "But we played well tonight, as we keep sorting through our problems." The Quakers have their work cut out for them in order to revive this so-far disappointing season. "I'd like to see us pull up to .500," Sage said. "We have two games against stiff competition coming up [No. 5 Dartmouth and No. 1 Princeton] and I'd like to see us perform well."