Penn suffers first loss

This season the Penn field hockey team has experienced many firsts. The Quakers have a first-year goalkeeper in Sarah Dunn. They have a first-year head coach in Val Cloud. They won their first four games, including their Ivy opener. And last night, they lost their first game. On a rain-slicked Franklin Field, the Fightin' Blue Hens of Delaware fought off a comeback attempt from Penn, handing the Red and Blue their first loss of the 1995 season, 3-2. Delaware (3-5) scored in sudden-death overtime to win a game in which it had the lead for 50 of 60 minutes in regulation. Only two minutes into the game, the Blue Hens' Perry Laura tallied the first goal. About the same time into the second half, Delaware scored again, as Melissa Hefner shot a feed from Lauren Baugher into the cage, putting the Quakers down 2-0. With 11 minutes remaining in the contest, Penn's leading scorer Sue Quinn put points on the Quakers' side of the board. As seen before, Quinn's goal was assisted by Kara Philbin and Abby Herbine, bringing Penn to within one. With time running out, the Quakers desperately needed a goal. Capitalizing on a penalty corner shot, Michele Canuso-Bedesem tied the game, hammering the ball through goalkeeper Kim Lockbaum's legs with three minutes remaining. The final three minutes of play were deadlocked, and the game went into overtime. With a mere 3:53 left in the first post-regulation period, Delaware's Baugher managed to get the ball past Dunn's pads, giving the win to the Hens, and handing Penn (4-1) its first loss. On a brighter note -- the Quakers did manage 22 shots on goal compared to the Hens' 9 -- Penn's highest total this season. Much credit goes to Delaware goalie Lockbaum. As the Quakers take to the road for the rest of the week, they will get a break from their tougher opponents, facing Ursinus and West Chester tomorrow and Saturday respectively. In this year of firsts, however, the Quakers can only hope that they don't lose two in a row for the first time in three years.