Pearce leads Monmouth

in blowout of W. Soccer The Penn women's soccer team was outmanned and overmatched Sunday, as the Quakers suffered their fourth defeat in six games -- a 5-0 thrashing at Monmouth (7-2). The lack of production up front must be on the forefront of Penn coach Patrick Baker's mind, as he brought on the Callaghan twins -- Jill and Andrea -- in the last 25 minutes to salvage some pride. Both went close in the waning minutes of the match, but neither could open the scoring for the hapless Quakers. Previous to Sunday's loss, the Callaghans have been forced to sit on the sidelines due to illness and watch the Quakers struggle to what is now a 1-4-1 record. As high school All-Americans, the twins were expected to make an immediate impact upon their arrival. "They're special players," Baker said. "They're the whole package." On Sunday, however, their relatively small contributions were a result of limited playing time and the lingering results of the illness, which made it impossible for them to go a full 90 minutes. "Only time will tell, if they'll provide the injection of enthusiasm we need to win," Baker said. Meanwhile, from the other side of the field, another "special" player was making her mark felt. The Hawks' All-American captain, Christie Pearce was a dominating force in the Quakers half, terrorizing the Penn defense all match long. From the opening kickoff, Pearce illustrated the qualities required to be one of the premier strikers in Division I soccer. No later than the second minute, she put freshman forward Lauren Pachucki onside in the penalty box with a well-timed pass, which Pachucki gratefully tucked away from 12 yards out for her third goal of the season. Constantly a threat, "Mission: Stop Christie Pearce" earned the attention of the entire defense, and it was only a matter of time before another attacking Hawk would squeeze through. Thus, it came as no surprise when Monmouth midfielder Tara Parsell scored her first goal of the season in the 29th minute. The wheels came off when the Quakers defense committed the cardinal sin of allowing a goal just before the half, when none other than Christie Pearce scored in the 41st minute, putting the Hawks up, 3-0. Monmouth freshman Joyce Cacolice and Pearce each added another score in the second half for the final result.