W. Lax: Ivy-leading Dartmouth rallies late to push past Quakers

This was not the way the Penn women's lacrosse team's seniors wanted to remember their final home game.

On Saturday, the oldest Quakers athletes were unable to defeat Ivy League-leading Dartmouth, falling 9-7 and having their three-game winning streak snapped.

"It's disappointing that this was our last game on Franklin Field," Penn senior Christy Bennett said. "We would have like to go out a different way."

Penn jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first five minutes, courtesy of senior Kate Murray's two unassisted goals.

"After I scored a few goals early against Penn State, everyone has been telling me to come out strong," Murray said. "Those goals gave us a lot of confidence."

But the Big Green, ranked No. 9 nationally, would battle back -- scoring four of the next five goals to enter halftime with a 4-3 lead.

Another Penn forward opened the second half strong, as junior Lindsey Cassidy tallied two quick goals to open the half. This put Quakers back on top, 5-4, in the first three minutes of the second half.

Penn's defense was determined to make this lead stick, holding Dartmouth scoreless for the next 12 minutes.

But the Big Green proved to be too much for Penn.

Dartmouth began to rally, netting four consecutive goals from four different athletes -- Lana Smith, Whitney Jamison, Leah Skypeck and Elizabeth Right -- which put the Big Green on top for good, 8-5.

The Quakers began to mount a comeback, scoring two of the next three goals -- courtesy of seniors Crissy Book and Alison Polk-Williams -- but time expired before they could overtake Dartmouth.

Though the team lost, the Quakers were pleased with their effort.

"I am happy with the way the team played," Penn head coach Karin Brower said. "We played a strong two halves and played good defense."

Bennett, the defensive captain, was especially pleased with the way her squad defended the Big Green.

"The defense did a great job at holding them out," she said. "We held them scoreless for long stretches."

Brower agreed that the defense was much better than usual.

"The defense really played as a unit," she said. "They played great. They were denying and doubling a lot more."

Several problems accounted for the narrow Penn defeat.

Poor shooting, which has hurt the Quakers all year, troubled the them again Saturday.

Penn outshot its opponent, 23-21, yet still lost by two.

"If we had shot better, we would have won," Brower said.

The Quakers also failed to capitalize on several eight-meter penalty shots.

"When we get fouled, we've got to put those eight-meter shots in," Brower said. "That would have made the difference. That's two goals right there."

Bennett also credits the Dartmouth team's perseverance, as it refused to quit on the road despite trailing for long stretches of the game.

"We just never could put it away," she said. "Every time we got a couple, they'd match."

Brower is quick to note that the Quakers should be proud of the way they played against such a strong team.

"Overall, I'm happy with the overall effort," she said. "Dartmouth is a top team. I would not be surprised at all if they were ranked in the top 10 [again] this week."

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