Callaghan delivers golden goal in OT

Andrea Callaghan scored a goal in overtime to break a 0-0 tie with Dartmouth and to give Penn a win in its Ivy opener. It took an extra 24 hours, 1 minute and 21 seconds to happen, but for the members of the Penn women's soccer team, their 1-0 sudden-death overtime victory against Dartmouth yesterday was definitely worth the wait. Originally scheduled for Saturday, the opening game of the regular season between the two Ivy League contenders was postponed until yesterday due to the damaging effects of Hurricane Floyd on Rhodes Field. After the one-day delay and over 91 minutes of soccer on the sun-dried turf, the match finally came to an end when Quakers' forward Andrea Callaghan scored a golden goal on an unguarded Dartmouth net early in the first overtime period. Callaghan found the wide open goal after beating Dartmouth goalkeeper Kristin Luckenbill to a leading pass by Penn midfielder Melissa Mandler, which landed outside the Big Green penalty box. The Penn senior tapped the ball past the feet of the charging Luckenbill, who had chased the ball beyond the zone where she could legally use her hands, and kicked in the game-winner with her left foot before any Dartmouth defenders could run her down. "The goalie came out to get it, but she didn't get there fast enough," Callaghan said. "I just hit it to the left and saw I had an open goal. "My left foot is my weak foot, so before I took the shot I was like, 'Oh my God, please don't miss.' I just saw the open goal and hit it as hard as I could." A few seconds after the goal, Callaghan was mobbed in front of the Dartmouth goal by her teammates. For Callaghan, though, those seconds before being surrounded by white jerseys were too quiet for her to believe that Penn had won the game. "I thought it was offsides or something, because nobody cheered after the ball went in," she said. "It took us a second to realize what had happened. I guess we were all in shock." With the win over the Big Green (0-3 overall, 0-1 Ivy League) in their season opener, the Quakers (2-1-1, 1-0) have taken the first step in what is hoped to be a major turnaround from last season, when the Red and Blue went a disappointing 1-5-1 against Ivy opponents en route to a last place finish in the league. And with this early win against Dartmouth, the 1998 Ivy League champs and NCAA quarterfinalists, the Penn players said their confidence has been given an added boost. "We knew this game would set the tone," said Callaghan, who played in last year's crushing 3-0 loss to the Big Green in Hanover, N.H. "We're trying to prove we're better than we showed last year." This year's Penn squad showed this improvement early against Dartmouth by controlling possession of the ball and keeping play in the Big Green half for most of the game's first five minutes. Even after the fifth minute, when Dartmouth started to make an effort to equal the play of Penn, the match still seemed to stay in the Quakers' favor. This looked especially true in the eighth minute, when a low Dartmouth cross found the feet of Big Green forward Melissa Roth in the middle of the Penn penalty box. Roth, Dartmouth's leading scorer last season, took a shot, but the potential ice-breaker was blocked just in front of the goal line by the foot of Penn defender Jennifer Danielson. The ball, though, rebounded right back to Roth, whose next try was grabbed out of the air and smothered by Quakers' goalkeeper Katherine Hunt -- who was still on the ground after diving for Roth's first shot. Dartmouth coach Kelly Knudsen was disappointed that her team, who received votes in the most recent NSCAA/Adidas Division I poll, could not score on opportunities such as this. "It wasn't the Penn defense as much as it was our attack," she said. "We couldn't take advantage. We dribbled into pressure and waited too long to pass. It was just poor decision making." Penn had similar offensive opportunities, too, especially coming from the wing play of right midfielder Angela Konstantaras. The junior had multiple 30-yard runs down the right side, which either lead to a cross into the Dartmouth box or a pass to a teammate to continue the attack on goal. "Angela had a feast on the right side," Penn coach Andy Nelson said. "She really took advantage of a weaker left defender and varied it up nicely either cutting inside or going down the wing." Despite the fact that Konstantaras' efforts didn't produce any goals, her play helped her teammates realize that they weren't outmatched by the favored Big Green squad. "In the second half, we realized that we were not only equal to Dartmouth, but that we were actually better than them," Nelson said. "We started to believe in ourselves." This mindset of the Quakers was reflected in their play throughout the second half and into the first overtime, and was solidified with Callaghan's goal, ending a game that was a far cry from last year's 3-0 loss at Dartmouth. "It's so much different than last year," said a smiling Callaghan after her teammates doused her in water on the sidelines. "I almost forgot what it was like. This was one of the best wins of my entire career."