The Penn women's lacrosse team finished its non-league campaign with a disappointing 7-6 loss at Temple.
"I can't say that we should have won, but we definitely could have won," goalkeeper Alaina Harper said.
The Quakers got off to a quick start, as Katie Spofford and Alison Polk-Williams both scored to give Penn an early 2-0 lead. But the Red and Blue were unable to maintain their edge.
"As a team, we came out really strong and that was great," Harper said. "But we had some mental lapses later in the game that got us behind and we tried to come back but fell short."
The Owls scored four straight goals following Penn's two goals, and secured the lead for the remainder of the game.
Still, the match was close throughout. The game went back and forth as Penn and Temple took turns scoring in the second half.
Trailing 4-2, Penn opened the second half with a goal by Kate Murray to close to within one, cutting their deficit the Owls, 4-3.
The Quakers trailed 6-3 after two more Temple goals, and then rallied behind goals by Emily Cochran and Lindsay Cassidy to reduce Temple's lead to one.
But Penn could not even the match after that.
After Jessica Yemm scored the Owls' seventh goal, Katie Murray scored Penn's sixth goal with her second of the game.
That was the end of the game's scoring, as Temple won, 7-6.
Despite the loss, Penn gained insight into what its strategy must be in its upcoming games.
"When our team plays for an entire game, we'll win," Harper said. "What we can also learn from this loss is that we're going to have to play as a team to win,"
As Penn enters its Ivy League season -- hosting Yale at 1 p.m. on March 22 -- it looks to build on its two wins against Delaware and Lafayette.
Although the Quakers have a sub-.500 record, their combined margin of victory in the two wins was 22 goals, as they defeated Delaware in their season opener, 12-3, and Lafayette, 14-1.
