Field Hockey explodes for four goals against Bucknell

Finally, the goals have come. Less than 48 hours after a tough 2-1 loss to Stanford at Franklin Field Friday night, the Penn field hockey team notched a 4-1 home victory over Bucknell Sunday afternoon, realizing the offensive potential that had been fulfilled but once all season. The Quakers will try to use their new-found scoring touch to win back-to-back games for the first time all year when they travel to Temple today at 3:30 p.m. The win, not to mention the breakout on offense, could not have come at a better time for Penn. After blowing a 1-0 lead with seven minutes to go against Stanford and losing senior defender and co-captain Brooke Jenkins to a knee injury, the thorough domination of Bucknell helped soothe the Quakers' spirits and improve their record to 3-8. "It was good for us, to prove to ourselves that we can? score four goals in one game," Penn junior defender Amna Nawaz said. "That was definitely good for our confidence." Penn senior forward Leah Bills opened the scoring on a penalty stroke at 28:42 of the first half. The goal was her team-leading sixth of the season. Three minutes later, Maureen Flynn put home a loose ball off a penalty corner to make it 2-0. While this was ultimately all Penn needed to beat the Bison, the fireworks had just begun. After Bucknell forward Erin Plasteras made it 2-1 with 4:06 left in the first half, Penn senior forward Katie McCuen scored on a rebound from a penalty corner shot with under 17 minutes to give Penn a comfortable 3-1 lead. Penn forward Maria Karas then put the exclamation point on the win, scoring with 31 seconds left in the contest. The four goals for the Red and Blue matched their season high, as they beat Villanova 4-2 on September 14. "We just completely dominated and put a lot of pressure on their defense," Penn senior goalkeeper Alison Friedman said. "[The ball] didn't even come into our defensive circle the entire second half." This was not the case Friday night against Stanford, as Penn lost a heartbreaker, 2-1, after leading 1-0. With the game tied at one, Stanford midfielder Michelle Scott scored on a penalty stroke with 1:41 to go in the game, giving Stanford a 2-1 lead and, ultimately, the win. The scoring opened at 20:30 of the first half when Bills put the ball in the back of the net following a goalmouth scramble resulting from a shot off a penalty corner, giving Penn a 1-0 lead. But the Quakers' scoring problem once again reared its head, as Penn could not score on multiple opportunities. "We had a lot of corners in our favor but we had trouble capitalizing on them," Nawaz said. "They were able to finish what we couldn't finish." Despite this, Penn appeared to be headed to a 1-0 win when Stanford defender Julie Gwozdz scored on a two-on-one breakaway with 6:55 left in the game. On the play, Jenkins injured her left knee and had to leave the game. The extent of her injury is not known, and she is being evaluated by doctors this week. Jenkins has torn the ACL of her right knee twice, most recently last spring while playing for the Penn women's lacrosse team. Penn's wounds were healed somewhat with the win over Bucknell and because of this the Quakers look forward to playing Temple today. "We really want to win [today]," Friedman said. "We know we can win."