F. Hockey rounted by Maryland

As the Maryland Terrapins invaded Philadelphia, they did their best to turn Franklin Field into a home away from home. With the number of Terps fans outnumbering the Quakers faithful, and with the speedy Terps playing on artificial turf, Maryland was geared to completely annihilate Penn. Coming into this game, the Quakers were set to begin a crucial three-game season-ending stretch that would feature three nationally-ranked teams and two do-or-die Ivy battles. Although Maryland (13-3) didn't pose a threat to the Quakers' quest for an Ivy title, a win would have gotten the attention of the pollsters, which in turn would give the Red and Blue a better chance for an at-large bid for postseason play. The stage was set for an all-out battle and, in the end, Maryland showed why it is No. 2 in the nation. Terps forward Linsey McVicker, who had 11 goals and 28 points coming into the contest, seemed to have the key to Penn's cage in the first half. McVicker scored the first two points of the game within five minutes of each other, putting the Terps up 2-0. Three minutes later, however, Penn forward Kara Philbin got the ball at the 30-yard marker, dodged between two girls, and shot the ball right at the Maryland cage. After a great stop by goalkeeper Alana Eliwatt, the ball was motionless near the goal mouth, and Philbin managed to follow her initial shot to put the Quakers on the board. With intense defense, the Red and Blue kept the Terps scoreless for the rest of the half. Unfortunately, the Quakers were dominated by Maryland's incredible stick handling and speed and Penn, too, was shut down for the rest of the half. Entering the second half down only 2-1, the Quakers had high hopes of pulling the upset. The Terrapins, on the other hand, had ideas of their own. Within the first five minutes of the second half, Penn let up two more goals. The first goal of the half was again scored by McVicker, and although hats were not being thrown on the field in honor of her hat trick, the dominant Maryland crowd erupted in cheers. Before things began looking better for the Quakers, they simply got worse. With 14 minutes left in the game, McVicker scored her fourth of the game, putting Maryland up 5-1 and her point total to 33 on the season. Penn was never demoralized by its deficit. As has been the case for the entire second half of the season, the Quakers strung together two solid halves of play. With just under five minutes left in the game, the Quakers were given a penalty corner opportunity, and with the same success they have had all year, they once again scored. After several clever passes following the initial feed, Sue Quinn took an assist from Michele Canuso-Bedesem to slam the ball into the net and bring the final score to 5-2. The main problem that faced the Quakers was simply the speed and quick reaction time that the Terps had. "They were very quick," Philbin said. "They are a great passing team. We were cutting to the ball well in the first half, and they picked up the pace in the second half." One problem the coaches seemed to have was the five goals Penn let up. "I thought we gave up a couple of goals that should not have been goals," Penn coach Val Cloud said. In any case, the team did play the full game, and whether or not the score reflected it, the coaches took notice. "We never gave up," Cloud explained. "We did score two goals. We'll take it positively and try to learn something from them to take to Yale." That game at Yale is Saturday, and although the Elis are ranked 20th, their talent level is nothing compared to Maryland's. "Usually with the top four you can notice a definite difference," Philbin said. So after all was said and done, and the Maryland fans still thought they were at home as they fired up the barbeque and tailgated, the Quakers went home knowing that two much more important games will be held in the very near future.