W. Soccer stays perfect at home with shutout

The Penn women's soccer team has outscored it opponents 22-1 at home. The team records continue to fall for the Penn women's soccer team. Saturday, the Quakers picked up their ninth victory of the season, breaking the program's record for most wins in a season set in 1995, when the Red and Blue went 8-6-2. The 2-0 victory at Rhodes Field over Brown also marked the first ever victory against the Bears (4-8, 1-4 Ivy League). Brown is the third Ivy team that has lost to the Quakers for the first time ever, this season. Penn (9-4, 4-1) scored the only two goals of the game in the critical first five minutes of the second half. Quakers midfielder Darah Ross received a leading pass from junior Kelly Stevens and beat Brown sweeper Erin Johnson. Ross was left with just the Bears' sophomore goalie Elise Roy to beat and put the ball into the right side of the net. Four minutes later, the Quakers earned a corner kick which was taken by Penn sweeper Deane Kocivar-Norbury. Instead of crossing the corner kick into the box, Kocivar-Norbury dropped the ball back to an unmarked Laura Donnel. Donnel, a freshman defender, crossed the ball to the backside of the box, where Andrea Callaghan settled and chipped the ball across the goalmouth. Freshman Emily Goodman placed a perfect header out of Draper's reach into the back of the net. "I'd like to have those five minutes over," Brown coach Phil Pincince. The first half also started off with Penn dominating on the offensive end. The Quakers were playing a possession game, what they do best, and were getting chances on goal. For the first 15 minutes, Penn controlled the tempo of the game and kept the ball on Brown's end of the field. For the rest of the first half, however, the Quakers had trouble getting into a rhythm. Passing sequences of more than two became rare for Penn as it had trouble getting out of their own end. Brown, however, was unable to capitalize on the out-of-sync offensive game of the Quakers. "We didn't make anything dangerous," Pincince said, referring to Brown's offensive opportunities in the first half. The Bears, however, did make every one of the Quakers' fans and players sweat in the last seconds of the half. With the scoreboard clock ticking down the final 10 seconds of the half, a Brown player rifled a shot from 25 yards out that bounced off the crossbar. "[That shot was a] major wake-up call," Penn freshman Angela Konstantaras said. "We got caught on our heels." The game was a physical one, marked by pulled jerseys and exchanged words. In one ongoing incident, Konstantaras and Brown senior Heidi Sheckley exchanged words after Sheckley hit Konstantaras, according to the Penn midfielder. "Every time we play Brown, they've played physical and taken cheap shots," Penn junior Kelly Stevens said. "[It was the] same today." Sheckley received a yellow card in the 83rd minute after yelling a vulgarity in the direction of the referee. Sheckley argued with the referee on more than one occasion during the game. Just before Sheckley received the yellow, she was on the sideline waiting to be subbed in. According to Baker, she said, "Come on Brown, they fall easy. They're overrated." "One or two [Brown] players lacked a little class," Baker said. While the game was physical, and several calls were contested by players, both coaches said that the referee was not the difference in the game. The historic game was played in front of a large, Parents Weekend crowd. The parents were treated to the seventh shutout recorded by the Quakers. Penn has now outscored its opponents 22-1 at home. "Great game. The defense was outstanding as usual," Jorn Kluetmeier, father of Penn goalie Annie Kluetmeier, said, acknowledging his bias. With the win, the Quakers keep themselves in the Ivy League race, in their most successful season ever. "We're playing for something special," Baker said.