Field Hockey rolls to a weekend sweep

The Penn field hockey team moved into a second-place tie in the Ivy League Friday with a 3-0 win over Columbia. Kim Voight The Penn field hockey team used last weekend to prove to the Ivy League that they are potential contenders for the championship title. Friday night Penn topped Columbia 3-0, and Sunday Penn bounced Pacific 5-1. Penn's (6-5, 3-1 Ivy League) 3-0 victory against the Columbia Lions (3-10, 0-5) placed them in a tie with Harvard for second-place standing in the Ivy League. Friday evening, Penn sophomore forward/midfielder Bess Freedlander scored the first goal against the Lions with just over 10 minutes remaining in the first half. Freedlander is currently the Quakers' leading scorer for the season, placing her as the Ivy League's seventh leading overall scorer. It would prove to be the only goal the Quakers would need, as they dominated the rest of the action. Penn coach Val Cloud felt that the Quakers were able to capitalize on Columbia's weaknesses. "Columbia is a young and inexperienced team," Cloud said. "They gave us a lot of opportunities off corners." "Normally our objective is to give up only a certain number of corners per game. Unfortunately, we doubled that output tonight," Lions coach Susan Eichner said. Penn scoring for the first half was finished up by junior Leah Bills, who took advantage of a penalty shot surrendered by Columbia for stroking. The Quakers left the Lions scoreless at the half, and kept their intensity for the remainder of the game. In the second half, sophomore midfielder Cindy Quinn had a fast break for the goal after regaining possession of the ball on the defensive end of the field. She maneuvered around the Lions' defense and netted the Quakers' third and final goal with 11 minutes remaining. "There were no individuals. I had an incredible pass from Leah Bills, and the team was able to keep the wings open," Quinn said. The Quakers' win against Columbia gave them a sense of confidence that they brought with them into Sunday's match-up against West Coast team Pacific (4-4 overall). The Penn stickers scored five big goals from five different players, and stepped off the field with their third win of the week. Junior Leah Bills scored the first goal of the game on a penalty stroke, followed quickly by a score from sophomore Freedlander, who was assisted by Katie McCuen. Less than five minutes later, junior Maureen Flynn recorded an unassisted goal, finishing the scoring for the first-half with eight minutes remaining. Sophomore midfielder Aviva Meerschwam scored the fifth and final goal of the game. She scored off a corner given up by Pacific with a high, arched shot that sailed right over the goalie and dropped into the net. Penn goalie Sarah Dunn held Pacific scoreless for most of the game, recording three saves, before sophomore Alison Friedman stepped into goal. Dunn is presently ranked second in the Ivy League with a .868 overall save percentage in 667 minutes of total playing time. Dunn also has a .898 save percentage in 280 minutes of playing time in Ivy League games. Friedman finished the game with four saves, but gave up Pacific's single goal with 11 minutes left in the game. In all, Penn had a landmark week. The Quakers outscored their opponents 13-2 last week and outshot them 76-20 in their three victories against Temple, Columbia and Pacific. Penn's performance this past week has bumped them up in the Ivy League rankings and provides them with the confidence to finish the last six games of the regular season with a bang.