Elis overmatch W. Lax in opener

The inexperienced Penn women's lacrosse team struggled in its opener. Opening day is a day of firsts for any team. On Saturday, the Penn women's lacrosse team had more than the usual number, opening the season at Franklin Field with an 11-5 loss to No. 20 Yale. It was their first collegiate and Ivy League game for Penn's freshmen, three of whom start. Traci Marabella scored her first goal, assisted by fellow freshman Jennifer Hartman, with 6:26 remaining in the game. Hartman added a goal of her own with 11 seconds remaining and Penn's newcomers seemed more comfortable by the end of the game. "I think today was just a matter of getting the first-game jitters out," junior captain Brooke Jenkins said. "Once we settled down today, we did pretty well." Unfortunately for the Quakers (0-1, 0-1 Ivy), it took them the better part of the first half to settle down. Yale (3-0, 1-0) raced out to a 7-0 lead as Heather Bentley notched a hat trick 17:23 into the game. Jenkins -- playing in her first game since suffering a knee injury in last season's opener -- scored on her very first shot 7:19 later. Jenkins' goal came off a pass from sophomore Annie Henderson, who started her season strongly with two assists. Henderson notched a team-high six assists in 1998. "Annie had a really good, on-the-money pass," Jenkins said. "I didn't have to do much for the shot." Jenkins' second shot of the game also resulted in a goal for Penn. It came without an assist, 5:21 into the second half, and cut the Elis' lead to 8-3. "Brooke has a real understanding of lacrosse," Penn coach Alanna Wren said. "She's really able to direct traffic on the attack." Wren coached the Quakers Saturday because head coach Anne Sage is on leave after the team expressed concerns about continuing with her as the coach. Wren credited the team for "having had to take a lot of responsibility." "Alanna had us well prepared," Jenkins said. "But we don't have enough players to play full scrimmages and that hurts our transition game a little bit. But everyone stepped up today and it was good considering the situation." While the Quakers had opportunities on offense, they had some problems capitalizing. In getting off only five shots in the first half -- in comparison to Yale's 24 -- Penn seemed in a rush to get the ball on net instead of letting plays develop. "We just need to hold our composure and not always be in such a hurry," Jenkins said. "It's just a matter of being patient." Penn's young team was not helped by playing against the Elis, who start six seniors. Yale also had game experience this spring coming into Franklin Field this weekend, having beaten Hofstra and Holy Cross by 10 goals apiece. "Yale's played those two games and it reflected," Wren said. "You just have to deal with the hand you're dealt." The game experience was most beneficial to the Elis' younger players, like freshman attacker Amanda Walton. Walton led all scorers Saturday with four goals. "Amanda is a huge impact player with great speed," Yale coach Amanda O'Leary said. "She's done a fabulous job." Walton's fourth goal, with 12:15 to go in the game, was the last one the Elis would score. From that point on, the Penn defense did a very impressive job of shutting down the Yale attack. "Their defense came out with a really strong performance," O'Leary said. "Our attack was good enough to get past them in the first half but they made us struggle in the second." Despite Penn's tough defense, Yale still amassed a 40-12 shot advantage. That margin, however, did not translate to another rout for the Elis because Christian Stover was excellent in goal. The Penn sophomore had 18 saves and did not allow a single goal in the last 12 minutes. "I thought our defense played very well, but Christian played outstanding," Jenkins said. "She had a ton of saves." When the Penn offense finally got going, Stover's efforts in goal allowed the Quakers to outscore the Elis 5-4 over the last 38 minutes of the game. "We were looking for good shots," Wren said. "In the second half, it really came together and they fought hard." Penn has plenty to build on from that second half for tonight's game against Stanford (3-3) at 7 p.m. on Franklin Field. Stanford has played well at home, beating Holy Cross for its first win over an East Coast team under second-year coach Heidi Connor. The Cardinal will be hard pressed to repeat such a feat in Philadelphia, as lacrosse teams from the west tend to be much weaker than teams from the east. "There are so many factors but you just have to come out and play ," Connor said. "We have to play 60 minutes of our game [and] control the possession and tempo." The Quakers will try to do the same and will have a good opportunity to enjoy one first that was not achieved in the opener -- their first win of the season.