W. Soccer holds off Pirates, 3-2

The Penn women's soccer team defeated Kelly Smith and Seton Hall by a score of 3-2 overtime. With 15 minutes remaining in yesterday's contest against Seton Hall at Rhodes Field, things looked good for the Penn women's soccer team. Having dominated the contest and built a 2-0 advantage, the Quakers needed only to hold the Pirates (5-3-1) in order to emerge victorious. Then Kelly Smith decided to take control. And what looked to be a routine win for Penn (7-1-1) instead transformed into a sudden-death, 3-2 victory in overtime. "I thought in overtime we would pull it off because getting towards the last 10 minutes of the second half we really had them on their last legs," Smith said. "But it wasn't to be." Five minutes into overtime, Penn junior forward Andrea Callaghan scored the "golden goal" on a serve from defender Jackie Flood. "I had lots of and space so I served it early and found her at about the six and she just headed it into the goal," Flood said. "It was gorgeous. It hit the side panel." Smith, who has 11 goals on the season, challenged the Quakers early but waited until the final 20 minutes to show her finishing skills. Undaunted by multiple defenders, she repeatedly navigated up the sidelines with great speed and fancy footwork, showing why she was last season's Big East offensive player of the year. "I normally get three or four people around me every time I get the ball," Smith said, "so I'm used to it now." For the first 45 minutes of play, Penn effectively neutralized Smith, allowing her few looks at the net. When the buzzer sounded to end the half, the tie at zero visibly frustrated her, as well as her teammates. "They nipped at each other," Flood said of the Pirates. "[Smith] especially was beating up on her teammates and yelling at them." According to Pirates coach Betty Ann Kempf, Smith's reaction to her team's first-half performance was warranted. "I think we played very carelessly in the first half and I was questioning their desire to win," she said. "We struggle with games in the middle of the week at times, especially away games." Problems with the Quakers own offense kept them from pulling ahead of Seton Hall during this period of inactivity. Most notably, Penn struggled with ineffective crosses, beginning early in the contest. "I didn't think we served all that well," Penn coach Patrick Baker said. "It's something that we work on a lot -- crossing and finishing. We had two great chances inside the first five minutes of the game and we put them both over the bar. That's what's so frustrating, we're capable of doing better." Penn had several shots in the first half but its best scoring opportunity came on a penalty kick. Penn sophomore Kellianne Toland was fouled when a defender jumped over her back in an effort to head the ball. But the Quakers did not convert on the kick. "Ashley Kjar stepped up, was confident, and wanted to hit it," Baker said. "I told her previously what side to hit it to and the keeper just made a good save." Both teams came out aggressively for the second half of play but it was Penn who put the first goals on the board. Midway through the half, Jill Callaghan scored for the Quakers on a pass from Angela Konstantaras, shooting into the right corner of the net just out of the Pirate goalkeeper Staci Nogle's reach. Eight minutes later, Penn's Emily Goodson put the Quakers up 2-0 with 20 minutes left. The two-goal advantage should have shut the door on the Pirates, but the combination of Smith coming alive for Seton Hall's offense and Penn's lackadaisical play turned the game in the visitor's favor. "This is the second game in a row where we got up on a team and then let them back in it," junior forward Andrea Callaghan said. Last Saturday the Quakers let a Harvard squad come back from one goal down to win 2-1 and snap Penn's six game winning streak. And just as the Crimson did, Seton Hall took advantage of Penn's sluggishness. "The thing that we'd heard from the Penn State coach who played them [Seton Hall] on Sunday was that even when he was up 3-0 he never felt like the game was out of reach. I felt the same way. What happened was, we just fell asleep," Baker said. "And when you fall asleep with that kid on the field, as you can tell, she shows she's a world class player." With 15 minutes left, Smith plowed through several Penn defenders before having her way with goalie Anne Kluetmeier. The goal displayed her speed and strength, and previewed what would follow. "She wasn't a hard worker until the last 15 minutes," Flood said. As the clock wound down to the final 10 minutes, all eyes were on Smith. When she had the ball, everyone paid attention. When she didn't, players looked over their shoulders. With 6 1/2 minutes on the clock, the Pirates tied the score at two when Smith permeated the defense and set up Michele Phalen to score, forcing overtime. The five-minute break before the extra session worked wonders for the Quakers, who returned to the field in the same dominating fashion with which they played the first 70 minutes. In hindsight, one could think the Quakers never really lost control. After all, who wants to win by two in regulation when you could have an exciting, picturesque and "golden" moment like that?