W. Soccer celebrates Senior Day with win over Delaware

From Franklin Field to their very own Rhodes Field, from Suzette Wolf to Patrick Baker, from ignominy to respectability, the six seniors of the Penn women's soccer team have had the unique perspective of watching their program turn full circle. From the large recruiting class of 1997, only captains Jill Brown and Heather Herson remain on defense, Nicole Caruso, Wendy Bass and Anne Davies at midfield and Yuka Morita at striker. It was only fitting that yesterday, deemed "Senior Day" by the athletic department, the soccer seniors finished their last home game of the season against an energetic Delaware side in an entertaining affair. All six seniors started the match in the 2-1 victory. "It was good to get the 'W' for them," Penn coach Patrick Baker said. After two tough losses to Ivy League foes Brown and Yale, the Quakers were searching for a confidence boost to build momentum for their final Ivy road trips to Cornell and Princeton. In what has been an all-too-common trend for this year's team, the opposition struck first. Eerily reminiscent of the initial goals scored against Penn by Bucknell and American, Blue Hens freshman midfielder Tracy Cantwell lofted a high shot from outside the penalty box in the fourth minute that dropped into the goal from an acute angle and fell out of the reach of Penn goalkeeper Amy Jodoin. It was not until the 27th minute that the Quakers unlocked the chicken coop, as a Kelly Stevens through pass to Darah Ross dissected the Hens defense. Racing onto the pass, Ross created her own shot as she veered to the right in the penalty box. As Delaware keeper Melissa Kulp desperately raced out to cut down the shooting angle, Ross coolly shot across the goalmouth to the far post, scoring her fourth goal of the season. With the score even, Penn aggressively maintained its advantage, until the Callaghan twins had their opportunity to shine in the 36th minute. Jill Callaghan, who had been turning defenders inside-out all day, latched on to a deep pass from Ross and fired a ferocious shot which thundered off the crossbar. Following up the strike, Andrea Callaghan quickly thanked her sister as she sidefooted the ball in for a score. Not content at the half, Baker urged the Quakers on, reminding them of past defeats. "I'm sick of ' We could've,' 'We should've,' and the like, of saying we hung right in there with people but could never get it done," Baker said. "I'm sick of saying that." When the attack tired, Brown and Herson proved their worth on defense as they held off a concerted final effort by the Blue Hens to equalize the score. Brown marked Delaware's main offensive threat, Betty Hatt, out the game. Not only didn't the Hens' all-time leading scorer add to her tally, she did not record a single shot on goal.