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Penn freshman Katy Cross, seen here against Cornell earlier this month, is currently second in the nation in assists, with 9. [Will Burhop/The Daily Pennsylvanian]

The Penn women's soccer team battled two opponents yesterday -- St. Joseph's and the cold, windy weather.

But the result was the same as always for the Quakers, as they defeated the Hawks, 3-0, on Rhodes Field while the wind chill stood at 40 degrees.

"I'm a California girl," said forward Rachelle Snyder, a San Diego, California, native. "I didn't want to be outside at all today."

But the Red and Blue -- whose 9-1-1 start is the best in the 10-year history of the program -- fought through the elements and came out fired up, nearly scoring 30 seconds into the contest on a corner kick.

After that however, the Quakers -- seemingly affected by the weather -- slowed down. Snyder, the Quakers' leading goal scorer, was replaced by forward Heather Taylor 20 minutes into the first half.

Two minutes later, Penn struck the back of the net. Defender Jennifer Valentine placed a corner kick directly to forward Kathryn Cross, who headed it in to give the Quakers a one-goal lead.

"Jen just gave me a perfect pass," Cross said. "She put it right on the doorstep and I was able to finish it off."

The Quakers remained sluggish for the rest of the first half and into the second, when the Hawks got their first real chance of the day. Two consecutive shots hit the crossbar before Penn central defender Heather Issing cleared the ball to end the threat.

"I was a little disappointed we weren't able to clear the ball out earlier on that play," Penn coach Darren Ambrose said. "But we did eventually get the ball out and it seemed to spark our team."

The Quakers quickly moved the ball back to the other end of the field, where Cross sent a nice pass to Snyder, who netted her ninth goal of the season. It was Cross's 9th assist of the season, the second highest total in the nation.

"I was a little sluggish in the first half," Snyder said. "I think I just needed some time to thaw out."

The nail in the Hawks' coffin was delivered with seven minutes remaining in the game by Devon Sibole on a header from about 12 yards out. It was set up by a pinpoint pass across the field from Taylor.

Despite the continued potent scoring of the offense, Ambrose was most impressed with Penn's defensive performance.

"We just played another amazing defensive game," Ambrose said. "Heather [Issing] and Jen [Valentine] really came through for us today."

With tri-captain Sarah Campbell sitting out due to a nagging achilles injury, Valentine had to play the entire game battling a viral infection. Issing controlled the play in the back, anchoring a defense that recorded its seventh shutout of the year.

"I thought we would score a lot of goals this season, but I didn't know how our defense would do," Ambrose said. "They've gone way past my expectations."

The Quakers, who also defeated La Salle and Drexel, swept their season series against Philadelphia teams.

The Red and Blue resume their Ivy League schedule this Saturday against Yale at Rhodes Field.

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