Flynn powers Quakers

Maureen Flynn's two goals led the Penn field hockey team to victory. The field hockey team stands undefeated in the Ivy League following Friday night's 2-1 victory over Cornell. Despite last Wednesday's non-league loss to Lafayette, the Quakers (2-2, 2-0 Ivy League) came out strong and gave a unified fight to the Big Red (1-3, 0-2). Penn took the lead halfway through the first half with an unassisted goal from junior tri-captain Maureen Flynn. But Flynn didn't stop there. Six minutes later, with assists from Jen Murray and Courtney Martin, Flynn scored her second goal off of a corner. Penn held Cornell scoreless until the end of the half, when the Big Red scored their one and only goal of the game. "We were lucky to have won," Penn coach Val Cloud said. Despite the victory, Cloud expressed some concern over the amount of corner shots Penn sacrificed to Cornell throughout the game. Many of the players agreed that it is a weakness the team has exhibited since the start of the season. Amna Nawaz, a sophomore who lead the defense with her stellar performance, agreed and said the team was focusing on improvement in that particular area of the game over the next few days. "We have so much potential, and we are finally realizing it," Nawaz said when asked why the team was showing such an increase of spirit since last Wednesday. "We were more intense throughout the game, and so we didn't let up the goals." Offensively, the Quakers put more pressure on Cornell and there was an improved interaction between offense and defense. The Penn stickers played more aggressively than they have in the past, but still seemed haphazard in their passing and general ball handling skills. Cloud commented on the girls' typical "one-and-done" approach to the game -- where the offense rushes down the field, and takes the first shot it gets, but does not sustain offensive pressure. "We need to keep the ball alive in the circle; we are not keeping control long enough," Cloud said. The second half was scoreless for both teams, despite numerous opportunities on goal. Goalkeeper Sarah Dunn finished the game with nine saves, to the Cornell's keeper's 12. Cornell outshot the Quakers 22 to 15. "There were no stars of this game," Cloud said. "The girls worked well together and from here the team can get nothing but better. There should be no regrets when we finish a game, because everyone has given it their all." The team is focusing on the Ivy League Championships and hopes to go into its November 6 season-ending match against Princeton undefeated. "We can only take it one game at a time," junior forward Courtney Martin said.