W. Soccer impressive in defeat

Perhaps it was Dartmouth coach Steve Swanson who summarized it best. "It was a far different Penn team than a lot of us have known," he said shortly after the women's soccer team nearly beat his nationally-ranked squad Saturday afternoon at Rhodes Field. As late as the 75th minute Penn (2-3-1, 0-2 Ivy League) was clinging to a one goal advantage, before the Big Green (4-1, 1-0) struck twice and escaped with a 2-1 victory. The game was a great departure from last year's contest, in which a powerful Dartmouth team pummeled the Quakers 8-0 in Hanover, N.H. The opening half of play included good scoring opportunities for both sides. The Quakers were able to find seams in Dartmouth's highly touted defense (9 goals allowed all last year) on several occasions. The best chance came in the 16th minute, when Tina Cooper slipped behind the defense and received a pass from midfield. Her shot bounded wide of the left post. Penn goalkeeper Amelia Urban was also tested early, facing several hard angled shots and numerous corner kicks. Coaches preach that the worst time to allow a goal is just before halftime, but in the 40th minute Dartmouth did just that. Penn was given a free kick from nearly 40 yards out. It was delivered to the 18 yard line, skimmed off of a head, and was loose in the box. Penn freshman Drew Osler found the ball before Dartmouth keeper Heidi Hachtel and rolled it in for a 1-0 lead. Tina Cooper was credited with an assist on Osler's second goal of the year. The Big Green came out of halftime with the sense of urgency that had been lacking in the first half. It adjusted its play to be less reliant on star striker Melissa McBean, who was struggling with the marking of junior defender Jill Brown. Instead, Dartmouth moved the ball around the field, controlling it for long periods of time. Despite an increasing domination of time with the ball, Dartmouth was unable to level the score. It was taking more shots, eventually outshooting the Quakers16-8. Even more revealing was its huge 11-1 advantage in corner kicks. Nonetheless, with only 15 minutes remaining Penn was on course for a tremendous upset. It was not to be. In the 75th minute, the Big Green's Betsy Dobbin cracked a hard left-footed shot towards Urban, who touched it but could not make the save. Eight minutes later, Dartmouth went ahead as Jenna Kurowski received a pass from the right side and atoned for missing an empty net earlier by firing the ball into the right side. Despite suffering a come-from-behind loss, the Quakers were upbeat after the match. "It just feels great to know that we can play with a team that is nationally ranked," said freshman defender Katrina Borisjuk. Coach Patrick Baker admitted a little "disappointment [about the result] because we did a fantastic job in the first half," but suggested that this result shows "we're turning things around." It is hard to disagree, especially after nearly knocking off a team which was winning Ivy League titles before there was even a Penn varsity program in existence. Dartmouth's soccer pedigree also includes trips to the last two NCAA tournaments. Saturday's game continued the Quakers' streak of not allowing more than two goals in any game. Although it dropped the team below the .500 mark for the first time this season, this may have been the high point rather than the low.