F. Hockey shuts out newly formed Columbia team

After a dismal 1-3 start to its season, the Penn field hockey team is happy to be back at .500. The Quakers (3-3, 1-1 Ivy League) defeated Columbia, 3-0, last night at Franklin Field to even up their record. Junior Tara Childs led the Penn effort with one goal and one assist from her position at left wing. "I think we were more aggressive in our shots and in trying to score," Childs said. "We concentrated on trying to get more goals and moving the ball up the field. I feel from the start of the season until now we're starting to play much more as a team." Co-captain Michele Canuso-Bedesem opened the scoring for the Quakers with a goal off a corner with under six minutes remaining in the first half. Childs then scored with only 2 minutes, 36 seconds remaining in the half to bring the score to 2-0. Emily Hansel added Penn's third goal early 21 minutes, 11 seconds left in the second half to put the game out of reach. The Penn victory was an expected one, however, since this is the first season Columbia has fielded a team. Given that fact, many on the Quakers' sideline were not satisfied with the 3-0 shutout. "I wasn't particularly happy with way we played," Penn coach Val Cloud said. "I thought we were sloppy and I was disappointed we didn't score more. We gave ourselves many opportunities and didn't capitalize, and against a stronger team you're not going to get away with that." Penn junior Erica Childs, who recorded one assist, concurs with Cloud's assessment of the Quakers' mediocre performance. "We came off a really good game against William & Mary, but today we didn't play so well," she said. "We played down to their level. It was disappointing that we didn't play better? Hopefully, we'll step it up now." Besides bringing Penn's overall and Ivy League records back to .500, the victory did reveal other positive trends for the Quakers. "I thought we played a stronger second half than a first half, which shows improvement," Cloud said. "And I was really pleased with what the freshmen did on the field. They're really starting to contribute. They add a lot of depth to our team." Penn's only Ivy loss this season came at the hands of Dartmouth, which has already lost to Princeton. The Quakers will play at Princeton the last day of the season in a game with possible Ivy title ramifications. However, Penn can only realistically hope to stay in the Ancient Eight race if it sweeps its remaining Ivy games. And with five of their next six games to be played at home, including contests against Harvard and Cornell, now is the time for Penn to break through. "I'm very happy where we are at this point in the season," Cloud said. "We kind of got through our preseason during our first five games, and we really progressed each game. We're in a good position." The Quakers will take on Ursinus, a more formidable and experienced opponent than Columbia, tonight at 7 p.m. on Franklin Field.