W. Soccer flies past M. Hawks

This time there were no screaming soccer moms. The bleachers were far from filled to capacity. A surplus of cars did not line the strip of land between Rhodes Field and I-76.

In fact, there were only a handful of fans at the Penn women's soccer team's game against Lehigh yesterday.

Yet the result remained the same.

Three days after Penn (7-1-1) shut out Cornell in front of a packed Parents Weekend crowd, the Quakers routed Lehigh, 3-1, at Rhodes Field.

However, in the beginning of yesterday's contest, the Mountain Hawks (2-9) were able to do what only two other Penn opponents have done all season -- score a goal.

Michelle Adams kicked the ball past goalkeeper Vanessa Scotto to give the Mountain Hawks an early 1-0 lead and shock those in attendance.

"We're very disappointed to give up a goal," Penn coach Darren Ambrose said. "It showed a complete lack of concentration. We struggle in midweek games historically."

But the Quakers have become a team that expects to win, and against an inferior team like Lehigh, they expected to win big.

With a fire lit under them, the Red and Blue quickly responded to the deficit by scoring two quick goals to gain a lead they would not relinquish.

Sophomore central defender Heather Issing took a first-half cross from freshman forward Devon Sibole and headed it into the back of the net to knot the game at one. It was Issing's first goal of the season.

Less than a minute later, the lethal forward combination of freshmen Katy Cross and Rachelle Snyder teamed to provide Penn with the game-winner.

Cross -- the Ivy League leader in assists and points -- fed Snyder -- the Ivy League leader in goals -- for the score.

"[Cross] is so dangerous," Ambrose said. "She creates a lot because she sees the field so well."

Cross added another assist to her Ivy-leading total in the second half, when she fed Sibole with a through-ball.

Sibole then left Lehigh defender Natasha Taylor lying on the grass before sneaking a shot past keeper Erin Iwaskiewicz with her right instep.

The three goals Penn scored were all examples of good teamwork and execution, but they were not representative of the way the Quakers played yesterday.

Despite the win, Ambrose was dissatisfied with his team's lack of scoring opportunities.

"We played very poorly," the second-year coach said. "We controlled the possession, but we didn't make it dangerous. We were not aggressive enough in the final third....We don't have that passion and hunger in the box."

Senior tri-captain Sarah Campbell, who helped control the pace of the game in the center midfield, agreed that the team could have played a lot better.

"We played down to their level, which is becoming a trait of ours," Campbell said. "We're still not consistent enough."

Still, the Quakers used their home-field advantage to come out on top, improving their record at Rhodes to 4-1 on the season.

"Coming to Rhodes Field is very intimidating," Campbell said. "You're five feet away from [Interstate] 76, it's a big field. It's definitely an advantage for us."

Penn will have to leave the friendly confines of Rhodes when it travels to Columbia next weekend, as the Ivy League portion of the schedule heats up.

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