W. Soccer nets wins, extends shutout streak

LaSalle could not score against the Quakers' women's soccer team. Maybe Saturday's game will prove to be more exciting for Penn goalie Anne Kluetmeier. Unlike La Salle, Harvard might actually challenge the Penn goalie. With a 2-0 win over La Salle yesterday, the Penn women's soccer team continued its streak of seven games without a goal being scored upon them. "We achieved one of our goals by remaining undefeated and unscored upon throughout the month of September," Penn midfielder Kellianne Toland said. Recently ranked seventh in the mid-Atlantic region by the NSCAA Regional Poll, the Quakers improved to a record of 6-0-1 overall with today's victory over the Explorers. They also continued their amazing streak of 660 minutes without allowing a goal. Unlike the smooth grass surface at Rhodes Field, the La Salle field was a bit more rugged. Penn coach Patrick Baker believes his team adjusted well to the different terrain of La Salle's football field where yesterday's game was played. Penn immediately seized control of the action. The ball was kept in La Salle's end for most of the first half allowing the Quakers to dominate the game, as the Explorers could not muster up even one shot on goal in the first half. "We did not give up a single shot on goal in the first half and we had a 1-0 lead going into the second half, after having 10 shots on goal," Baker said. Sophomore Angela Konstantaras scored the first goal, late in the first half, with an assist from senior Kelly Stevens. Stevens currently leads the team with 11 points and five goals scored. "We had a high energy level going into the game. Everyone worked hard and it paid off in the first half," Konstantaras said. In the second half, Penn junior Jill Callaghan scored the second goal on a penalty shot she received for being tripped in the box. This successful shot was Callaghan's third goal of the season. With a perfect mark of seven shut-outs, Kluetmeier continued her untarnished records of a 0.00 goals against average and a 1.000 save percentage. Despite their win, the Quakers were disappointed with their performance in the second half. "We have a tendency to let up on a team in the second half and that is exactly what we did against La Salle," Toland said. Baker believed that Penn struggled in the second half with both good and awful moments being prevalent. "We had the ability to put the game out of reach for La Salle, but we were quite unsuccessful," Baker said. According to Konstantaras, Penn had no reason to think that La Salle, now 5-2-1, was going to be a weak team. The Explorers proved to be more of a challenge in the second half. "This game had to be taken as seriously as the Cornell or Harvard games," Konstantaras said. "But our performance in the second half of the game just shows our weakness and it is something we definitely have to work on for the game against Harvard." With yesterday's game behind them, the Quakers are now looking toward the challenge of their game against Harvard on Saturday. "We understand the importance of the game against Harvard,"Baker said. "It is imperative for us to concentrate on our levels of intensity and to play the entire game as we played in the first half of the game against La Salle."