After impressive wins, F. Hockey loses close one

Momentum is a funny thing for the Penn field hockey team. Apparently its seizure is easier than its maintenance.

The Quakers(3-7, 2-0 Ivy League) traveled to Temple's Geasy Field yesterday. The team was coming off its best week in three seasons, going 3-1 with two thrilling overtime victories over Ivy League rivals Cornell and Dartmouth.

The Owls were in the midst of losing five out of six, falling to 5-7 after a torrid 4-0 start.

But -- flying in the face of both team's streaks -- the Red and Blue suffered a 1-0 loss at the hands of the Owls (6-7).

"I think that it's just a bump in the road," senior co-captain Monique Horshaw said. "I think we can bounce back and we will bounce back."

Despite the loss, Penn remains in a three-way tie with Harvard and Princeton for first place in the Ancient Eight.

Penn has made a habit of losing by one goal -- five of its seven losses have been by that margin.

"We're definitely frustrated by all of [the close losses]," Horshaw said. "These are games we need to win at the end. We just don't make the adjustments to win them."

Penn lost despite a tough defensive effort. Virginia Gonzalez's goal off a penalty corner 3:12 into the second half was the only one allowed by sophomore goalie Carrie Wilhelm and the Quakers.

Penn senior co-captain Nikki Battiste, a forward, got off seven shots in the first half, but they were all turned aside by Temple goalie April Hermann.

"I don't know if I've ever gotten that many shots in a half before," Battiste said. "It's frustrating as a forward not to get the ball past the goalie."

Hermann stopped nine Penn shots en route to her first shutout of the season.

"Their goalie was really strong," Battiste said. "She came out of the cage more than any goalie we have faced and she cleared the ball. That meant we couldn't get any rebounds. She was aggressive and she was good."

Wilhelm nearly matched Hermann save for save, recording eight overall while taking the loss.

"[Wilhelm] was great today," Horshaw said. "There were a lot of shots that were very hard and very close and she just stopped them."

Aside from Battiste's first-half outburst, Penn managed only three shots on goal, with only two coming after halftime.

"We just need to get the balls that are on cage into the cage," Battiste said.

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