Field Hockey drops heartbreaker in OT

The Quakers' overtime loss to St. Joe's was their first loss ever to the Hawks. The Quakers' overtime loss to St. Joe's was their first loss ever to the Hawks. On Friday, the Penn field hockey team traveled down Lancaster Avenue to visit its neighborhood rival, St. Joseph's, only to be disappointed in a 3-2 overtime defeat -- the first time in its history Penn has lost to St. Joe's. With just over eight minutes left in the first half, St. Joe's took a 2-1 lead when senior Siobhan Leavy scored off a pass from freshman Tiffany Frankenfield. The Quakers were not able to match St. Joe's second tally and started the second half trailing by one goal. "It was disappointing because the momentum kept changing," Flynn said. "When we had the momentum, I thought we could have stayed with it and continue to score and create offense, but then we would lose it." Throughout the afternoon, the Hawks executed a quick-paced game plan, which is the completely opposite of the Quakers' controlled-passing style of play. "We were so focused in on our game that we didn't adjust to their style in the first half," tri-captain Leah Bills said. While Penn was concentrating on its own strengths, St. Joe's repeatedly came from behind the Quakers to steal the ball, seizing any momentum Penn had just gained. "It wasn't a matter of talent and skill. I think it was a matter of them being quicker and beating us to the ball," Penn senior Katie McCuen said. The Quakers played 70 grueling minutes of regulation play before entering a seven-on-seven sudden death showdown, which is much different from the normal 10 field players approach. Although St. Joe's outran Penn for the majority of those 70 minutes, the stats favored the Red and Blue, especially in the second half when the Quakers adjusted to the Hawks' run-and-gun game style. Penn took 15 shots while the Hawks only shot 10 times on junior goalkeeper Alison Friedman. Penn also outdid the Hawks with the number of corner opportunities they created. The Quakers had 12 chances to score off a corner but failed to capitalize on any of them. St. Joe's, on the other hand, only took six corners. Fifteen minutes into the game, senior tri-captain Brooke Jenkins made her return from recent ACL surgery. According to Penn coach Val Cloud, she is at "full-tilt." Along with Jenkins, senior back Jen Murray set the tone for the defense which shut out the Hawks for the entire second half of play. "Obviously from the stats we controlled most of the game," Cloud said. "I don't think we expected to take 12 corners and not score." After a St. Joe's defensive player stopped senior Courtney Martin's shot with her bare hand in the second half, Bills scored a penalty stroke to send the game into overtime. "It was such a good feeling," Bills said. "I felt like Brandi Chastain." Despite the fact that the Quakers shut down most of the Hawks' scoring opportunities, St. Joe's capitalized in the final moments. At the 10:23 mark of overtime play, St. Joe's freshman Kathy Sokalski netted the game winning tally off a rebound. The extra edge that the Hawks had over Penn may partly be attributed to the game experience St. Joe's has accumulated thus far this season. "It was our first game; we weren't physically game-ready yet. St. Joe's, however, had two completed games," Cloud said. "They had game experience, which I think is a lot different physically than just training." In the past, Penn has been known to open its season against teams that have two or three games under their belts. The lack of game experience has been the Quakers' achilles heel in starting their seasons. Despite weeks of double-session preseason practices and multiple scrimmages, game experience and hours of practice are just not the same. "[The Hawks] have had a couple games and I think it makes a big difference," junior Christy Plower said. Before Cloud gives her end-of-the- game talk, she asks her players what they thought of the game. "Obviously they were disappointed, but they recognized it wasn't a blowout or bomber," Cloud said. "[The team] identified the good and the bad. I think they learned from it. If there is such a thing as a good loss, this was it."