Field Hockey earns first win of year in 5-0 rout

The Penn women's field hockey team broke out of its slump in an emphatic way last night at Franklin Field with a 5-0 win over West Chester.

The win was the first of the season for the Quakers, who had shown signs of life this past weekend against Cornell.

This dominant play carried over to last night, and all of the Red and Blue's frustrations were taken out on an overmatched West Chester team.

Junior forward Jackie Lange led the way for the Quakers, who improved their record to 1-4 overall.

Penn is 0-2 in Ivy League games.

Lange scored two goals to lead the offensive outpouring. She has now scored at least one goal in four of Penn's first five contests.

The last goal, scored by Lange, was set up by some wonderful passes through the offensive zone.

"It looked good when I got the ball," Lange said. "So I said let's just let it rip."

Lange was not alone, however, with her spectacular play.

Freshman goalkeeper Amanda Jacobs was solid all night and recorded her first collegiate shutout.

But this feat would not have been possible had it not been for a timely play by junior defender Emily Farnesi.

With exactly a minute left in a game that had long since been decided, Jacobs was beaten on a point-blank shot.

Thankfully for Jacobs and her teammates, junior defensive star Farnesi was standing in front of the net. The ball caromed off her leg, and the shutout remained intact.

Despite the lopsided victory, things didn't go as well for the Red and Blue during the early stages of the game.

Penn coach Val Cloud actually had to call an early time out to help regroup and refocus her team.

"We stunk at the beginning. I had to call time out it was so bad," Cloud said. "I just asked the girls what they were doing out there and then when they went back on the field they were a completely different team."

Last night's win came after a very frustrating loss the past weekend at Cornell.

Even though the game was dominated by the Quakers, the Quakers had a long bus ride home from Ithaca, N.Y., after the 1-0 loss.

It was this deflating loss that the Quakers used to fire themselves up for yesterday's game.

"Even though it was a big disappointment, it gave us something to build on for the rest of the season," Cloud said. "That game against Cornell was the best I've seen this team play in several years, and it carried over, in spurts, in today's game."

With the pressure of having a goose egg in the win column off their shoulders, the Quakers will look to continue the roll.

"We're equally psyched for the rest of the games," Lange said. "We have a lot of local teams that we're going to play, and we're really looking forward to those games."

With the Red and Blue now clicking on all cylinders, they are looking forward to turning their season around and making a lot of noise in Ivy League play.

"I think they way this team is playing right now we are going to be tough to beat," said Cloud. "A team is really going to have to dominate us if they want to get a win over us now."

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