Quakers doubled up by No. 4 Temple

Poor shot selectionPoor shot selectionplagues Penn againstPoor shot selectionplagues Penn againstmore athletic Owls It can only get easier from here. The Penn women's lacrosse team, which had lost its regular-season opener to No. 5 Loyola (Md.) in Baltimore a week earlier, fell to No. 4 Temple, 12-6, Tuesday night at Franklin Field. The Quakers (1-2) got on the board first when senior attacker Amy Shapiro scored the first of her three unassisted goals just 46 seconds into the game. But Temple scored the next two goals and never looked back. Although Penn was outscored 6-3 in each half, Quakers coach Anne Sage felt her team's performance was better in the first half than the second. "I thought we played them even for a half, but then they got on a run," Sage said. Shapiro's three goals led Penn and tied her for the game-high. She also had the Quakers' lone assist, setting up a goal by sophomore midfielder Emmy Hansel at the start of the second half. According to Sage, the match was over before it ever started. "We played a tough game, but Temple is at a different level than us," she said. "It's like if the basketball team played one of the top teams." Hansel did not believe that Penn was overmatched, but did concede that the Owls' athleticism forced the Quakers into an uncomfortable style of play. "We couldn't play our usual game because they're just better than the teams we're used to playing," Hansel said. Penn's biggest problem in the game was its shot selection. Only a small percentage of the Quakers' shots on goal reached their desired destination. Although Penn's offensive woes were partially caused by Temple's aggressive defense, they were also largely due to weak attempts by the Penn offense. "Our shot selection definitely could have been better," said Quakers sophomore midfielder Sue Pierce, who scored one goal for the Quakers. "We took a lot of shots on goal, but only scored six goals." "We're working on our transition and shooting," Sage added. "We have to take better shots." Although Penn plays one of the nation's toughest schedules this year, the rigor of having to keep up with as athletic a team as Temple did put a strain on the Quakers as the game wore on. "We played well for most of the game, but after a while we started to get tense and didn't execute as we should have," Pierce said. "Their speed came through more than ours in the second half." Despite the loss, Penn was satisfied with its performance on Tuesday. "We stepped up and played well under pressure," Hansel said. "We didn't really play great individually, but we played well as a team and had some key performers." · The Quakers next test comes this afternoon at 3:30 pm against Lehigh in Bethlehem, Pa. "They're closer to our level, and it should be a good, competitive game," Sage said.