W. Lax drops OT decision

An overtime goal from Rutgers' Brandi Bailey dropped Penn to 4-5. The Penn women's lacrosse team (4-5) went head-to-head with Rutgers last night at Franklin Field. The game ended 9-9 in regulation, but the Lady Knights scored one goal in the first three-minute, non-sudden death overtime and the Quakers were never able to come back. "We played well enough to win," Penn coach Anne Sage said. "We had a two-point lead and then Rutgers came back. We were fighting adverse conditions and the kids hung in there, and coming up with a win would have been nice. We needed to win for comfort level. Where are we at? We're struggling now." Overall, the two teams appeared to be evenly matched. Both seemed to have difficulty gaining control of the groundballs and allowed their passes to get sloppy as their opponent's defense strengthened. Both teams' goalies also had difficulty defending low shots. And both teams have a handful of very strong players on whom they can always rely. Penn has been pleased with its improvement this season, but so far the Red and Blue have been unable to prove themselves as a legitimate national power. Rutgers, preceding the final Ivy match against Yale Sunday at 1 p.m. at Franklin Field, would have been the ideal time to do so. Unfortunately the Lady Knights have made great improvement as well. Rutgers has a good blend of veterans and freshmen who combine to be the most successful team in school history. It was, in fact, ranked 14th in this week's Brine poll, marking its first appearance in top 15 ever. With less than five minutes gone, Rutgers junior tri-captain Dina Cavallo (2 goals) made the first goal of the game, with an assist by Liz Chambers. Chambers (2 goals), a freshman, is a very versatile player who has earned a starting position on the team. Although the Lady Knights' Robin Erthal only scored one goal, she controlled the settling of the ball and looked for the backdoor cut from her teammates. On the attack, Rutgers brought back last year's points leader in senior attacker Brandi Bailey. As the Lady Knights' top scorer and assists leader, Bailey is looked upon as a leader on the field and as the playmaker of the team. With two goals, including the winning goal in overtime, Bailey did not let her team down. As for the Quakers, their focus is on teamwork, but the accomplishments of some cannot go unnoticed. Junior attacker Sue Pierce (2 goals), who has 28 points this season, is fourth in overall scoring in the Ivy League. With 16 points in five games, she leads the Ancient Eight. Jamie Schemberg and Darah Ross are tied for fourth in the League, scoring 11 points each. In last night's game, the Red and Blue worked well together, each player contributing her best skills to the overall benefit of the team. Freshman Brooke Jenkins was scrappy, recovering missed catches, chasing after groundballs, cutting at the crease to help her struggling teammates, and scoring three goals for Penn. Midfielder Emmy Hansel,used her speed to make fast breaks and scored a goal as well. Fellow middie Ross (2 goals, 1 assist) was aggressive on both defense and offense, making several strong shots on goal. Senior tri-captain Amy Tarr (1 goal, 1 assist) and Schemberg (2 goals, 1 assist) were both tenacious. And sophomore goalie Sue Back made seven saves and performed well in a game in which she was consistently pelted with shots and in which her view of the ball was often obscured due to crowding of the players. Although certain individual achievements were notable, what was most evident was Penn's teamwork. The Quakers' bond is very important to them, and the cheer of "Team" at the end of each team meeting spurs the team on more than any other shouts of encouragement. "We played with a lot more heart than we have in the last couple of games -- we played like a team," Hansel said.

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