Ivy teams keep trampling F. Hockey

For the Penn field hockey team, this season was supposed to be a reversal of the bad fortune of injuries and close losses that plagued the 1999 season. They certainly didn't mean to repeat it. However, with a 5-1 loss to Columbia on Friday and a 5-0 defeat at the hands of Brown yesterday, the Quakers fell to 3-13 overall and 0-6 in Ivy League play, similar to last year's final tally of 5-12 overall, 1-6 in the Ancient Eight. "Our frustrations are catching up with us, and that's getting into our mental game," senior co-captain Amna Nawaz said. "We're psyching ourselves out, making it easier for our opponents to control the game." Both games marked the Quakers' two largest margins of defeat of the season; eight of their losses have been by only one goal. "I think [the scores] are just a reflection of the pure frustration we're feeling right now," sophomore Ali Corsi said. "We know we can play better than this, and we proved that to ourselves." The Quakers' lone goal of the weekend came in Friday's game against the Lions. Junior Nikki Battiste netted her team-leading ninth of the year with 6:19 remaining in the first half, and Mandy Doherty earned her third assist of the season. That was all the offense the Quakers could generate, however, as they were shut out by Bears goalkeeper Annie Owens yesterday. "We didn't play our game, and we didn't come out like we should have," Battiste said. "We just couldn't put our game together." It was a disappointing end to the Franklin Field careers of graduating senior defenders Lauren Cornew and Nawaz, who, as the only two seniors on the team, were respected leaders both on and off the field. "Lauren has always worked really hard and persevered. She has been someone for the younger players on this team to look up to," Battiste said. "Amna is the most amazing person I know. They'll both go on to do great things." With only one game left to play this Friday against nationally ranked Princeton, the Quakers are beginning to look back at the season and assess what might have been with a few good breaks here and there. "It's just frustrating to have two seasons go this way," Battiste said. "If we had won our first two games [in overtime], this season would have had a completely different result." Perhaps the most difficult lesson learned is that off-field closeness doesn't necessarily translate to victories on the field. "I think we thought our chemistry would carry us farther than it did," Nawaz said. "We just didn't pull through. We can't chalk it up to experience anymore. Everyone has the experience now." At this point, the Red and Blue are playing for personal pride more than anything else. "[We're playing] for respect for ourselves as players, our coaches and families and pride," Corsi said. "Right now, that's about all we can play for." Facing the fifth-ranked Tigers at the end of this weeke will clearly be one of the biggest challenges of the season. And playing a competitive, hard-fought game -- much like last year's -- is one aspect of the 1999 season that the Quakers would not mind emulating.

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