W. Lax squanders late lead

Brown's six-goal run in the last 12:25 ended Penn's bid for a second Ivy win. It was the one that got away. Despite taking a two-goal lead deep into the second half against Brown on Saturday, the Penn women's lacrosse team could not hang on for the victory, falling 9-5 to the Bears. Six consecutive Brown goals to close out the contest undid the Quakers (5-7, 1-6 Ivy), who stumbled to their fifth straight defeat. "It's very frustrating right now. We're making the same mistakes over and over again," Penn coach Karin Brower said. "This is like Harvard [an 11-9 loss] again -- a team we can beat, and we don't play well. They were not doing what we were asking them to do. They weren't moving the ball quick enough in the midfield." Behind five scores from five different players, Penn took control of the game after falling behind 3-1 and staked itself to a 5-3 lead in the second half. But led by three second-half goals by senior Cristi Gigon, Brown (5-7, 2-4) roared back for six goals in the final 12:25 to deny the Quakers their second Ivy victory. Penn netminder Christian Stover made 18 saves, but she was unable to fully compensate for a series of defensive breakdowns and a rejuvenated Bears attack late in the second frame. "Today we found the determination to win, regardless of what Penn was doing," Brown coach Theresa Ingram said. "Penn came out there very strong in the second half, and I don't think we matched the intensity initially. But we did in the end." Shortly after the yearly awards had been given out to the Quakers' four seniors in a pre-game ceremony, it looked like Penn would be in for a long afternoon. Brown took advantage of a player left alone behind the net and a free-position shot to ring up two scores just six minutes in. But Brower called a timeout to settle her squad down, and the move worked. Crissy Book scored for the Quakers 60 seconds after the timeout to make it 2-1, and the teams settled in for 10 minutes of scoreless play. The Bears broke the drought on a free-position shot by Elise Roy, but Traci Marabella and Emily Foote -- a Daily Pennsylvanian sports writer -- put home a pair of scores to send the game to the half tied at 3. In the 15 minutes following the break, a stronger Penn team emerged. The Quakers spent a majority of the time in the Brown end as Foote, Marabella, Brooke Jenkins and Jenny Hartman all had strong chances. Hartman was the one to finally beat Bears keeper Niki Caggiano to give Penn its first lead at 4-3. Marabella lobbed a pass from behind the net, which Hartman received above her head and slammed home into the Brown net. After Quakers freshman Whitney Horton hit the post seconds later, Penn extended its lead to 5-3 with 15 minutes left on the first career goal of Bess Lochocki. Normally a defender, Lochocki scored from a free position in front of a crowd that included her high school's team. "I've only played attack a couple of times in a game, but I was bumped up to play both sides because we have some girls that play midfield that are injured," Lochocki said. "The free position was the second one I've had all season, and I was so happy to score on it. I knew my high school would be here, and I was really, really nervous." But for Penn, this first was also a last -- the Quakers did not find the net the rest of the afternoon. Meanwhile, a succession of Penn fouls leading to Brown free-position goals left the home contingent bewildered. "I would say that after we were up by the two goals, there was a wave of enthusiasm that went through the team. And then as soon as they scored again, it was like everyone dropped back down," Lochocki said. Two of Gigon's tallies came from the free position, and the third -- with 8:41 remaining -- was the difference in the game. "I [didn't have] a good first half, so I got a little bit frustrated and upset with myself. And for me, I play better when I get mad," said Gigon, who had a goal waved off late in the first half because she was in the crease. The game stayed at 7-5 in favor of Brown for six tense minutes, as a Jenkins effort went high on a free-position shot, an offensive foul was called in close on Hartman and a diving shot was sent wide right by Book. The Bears added two goals in the final 35 seconds for the final tally. "I think the thing that killed us was we were letting their girls catch it instead of playing up on them from the start," Stover said. "Our defense did really well, but we had a lot of lapses. And I think from the goals I let in, it brought the defense down a little bit." Strong Quakers efforts on defense were turned in again by Christy Bennett and Book. Both Book and Marabella played the full game despite heavily taped sprained ankles. These efforts, however, were overshadowed by a gaggle of Penn miscues, as a game that was eminently winnable slipped away. "We had stupid, stupid fouls. The too many players over the restraining line -- that's not thinking," Brower said. "I don't know what it takes. The next two games are winnable, but not if we play like that."

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