Lions stun W. Soccer, keep Quakers winless in Ivy play

Columbia put the ball in the net twice Saturday en route to an upset. Since arriving in 1994, Penn women's soccer coach Patrick Baker could always count on a routine beating of Columbia, either to rejuvenate his team amidst a losing streak or to help add another win to its tally. But unfortunately for this year's Ivy League win-starved squad, the opponent from the Big Apple offered up a sour taste last weekend, handing the Quakers a 2-1 loss at home. "We've beaten Columbia just about every year," Baker said. "But this year they came out and they were ready for us. I just don't think we were ready for them." Baker suggested that perhaps his team wasn't mentally prepared, having focused too heavily on large-scale league goals at the expense of intermittent challenges such as the Lions' visit to Philadelphia. "I think we just assumed that the Ivy League championship was going to be played when we played Harvard," he said. "The last time I checked, you have to play seven grueling games." And the match-up with the Lions certainly was grueling. The first 40 minutes were scoreless, with scrappy play on both ends. Penn's quest for its first Ivy League win of the season and Columbia's attempt to make history turned Rhodes Field into a war zone. "It was a really physical game," Columbia coach Kevin McCarthy said. "But I guess that every week in the Ivy League is a battle." The Lions clearly dominated the first half, rarely allowing the Quakers forwards past midfield aside from the occasional break up the sideline. With five minutes remaining, Columbia freshman midfielder Jaclyn Chu scored the game's first goal on a pass from teammate Ali Tomich . "She crossed the ball and it went straight through the box," Chu said. "I just ran for it and put it in." Once down 1-0, the Quakers looked like a new team as they worked to catch the Lions in the second half. "We realized that our backs were against the wall," Baker said. "We had to come out with a little bit of fire." Penn scored the equalizer when sophomore Angela Konstantaras brought the ball up the left sideline and served it to Tina Cooper. Cooper's shot missed, but Emily Goodman quickly scored on the follow-up. The tie did not last long. Columbia's Kerry Martin scored minutes later on a shot too far left for Penn goal keeper Annie Kluetmeier to grasp. The sequence was typical of the Quakers, who typically relax while tied or leading, according to Baker. "We let them back in it," Baker said. "We let a kid on a backside run just settle the ball, turn and pick a corner. That's just too easy." Unfortunately for the Quakers, catching up to the Lions wouldn't be that easy. Penn had multiple scoring opportunities but each chance was either poorly executed or skillfully foiled by Lions junior goalkeeper Ali Ahern. "It was a challenge," Ahern said. "I knew Penn would be a great game. Everyone really stepped up the defense because we knew they would be tough." Midway through the half, Ahern drew awes from the crowd as she several times rescued the ball safely from chaos and once captured a brilliant, one-handed save. "To be honest, they played a good game," McCarthy said. "But what it all comes down to is that we scored our chances and our goal keeper came up really big when they got a couple chances." While acknowledging his team's valiant comeback effort, Baker expressed frustration that it took the fear of an impending loss to excite the Quakers offense. "We got down and it was like, 'OK, we'll start playing again.'" Baker said. "Then we had some chances but it wasn't meant to be. We didn't get the job done." If the Quakers don't start completing the job soon, they are at risk of experiencing a familiar phenomenon on the flip side. "It's frustrating because I think we have all of the capabilities of being a really good team but we haven't been able to show it in the league," Baker said. "We went from the bottom of the Ivies to second last year in one season. I told them, I don't want to go from second back to last. We have to pick it up." Penn's first chance at retribution will come this weekend against Brown. Perhaps with four Ivy League games complete and a record of 0-3-1 to show for it, the Quakers will find success in realigning themselves with last season's quest -- winning as the underdogs.