Home field advantage was not enough for the Penn field hockey team to defeat one of its toughest opponents of the year.
Giving up three goals on penalty corners, Penn (0-1) never controlled the tempo of the game as they fell to Delaware, 4-1, Saturday at Franklin Field.
The Fightin' Blue Hens (2-1) played aggressively and kept the Quakers on their heels throughout their season opener. Delaware outshot Penn, 14-7, while keeping most of the action in front of the Quakers' net.
"[Delaware] is an exceptional team in our region this year," Penn coach Val Cloud said. "We had tough competition today, on a tough day to play physically, because it was so hot."
The loss marked the sixth-straight year the Quakers failed to win their season opener, dating back to a 1-0 win over Saint Joseph's in 1997. Penn will look to earn its first win this season against the Hawks tonight.
Trailing 2-0 at the half, the Quakers seemed poised to make a comeback when sophomore Kristen Gray scored off an assist from junior Bernice Raveche, just 2:19 into the second period. It was the first collegiate goal for Gray and the first assist for Raveche.
Penn would only manage three more shots in the entire period, however, as the Blue Hens added two more goals to extend their lead.
Junior Jessi Balmer tallied an unassisted goal at the 50:23 mark for the Blue Hens to make it 3-1. Ten minutes later, junior Lauren Carr scored off a corner from Katie Evans and co-captain Erica LaBar.
Evans finished the day with a goal and two assists, scoring at the 8:08 mark to give the Blue Hens a 1-0 lead. Her first corner assist, to senior co-captain Jessica Breault, turned out to be the game-winning goal.
Although Delaware finished with only two more penalty corners than the Quakers, Penn was unable to take advantage of its opportunities, going 0-8.
"Our doom was giving up so many corners," Cloud said. "Those turned out to be very tough to defend for us."
The Blue Hens' defense also proved to be troublesome for a potentially potent Penn offense. While all of Delaware's 14 shots were on goal, Penn only recorded three shots on goal out of their seven attempted shots.
"When you play teams that are in the top 10 and top 20, they are going to have a solid offense and solid defense," senior co-captain Jackie Lange said.
Despite the lack of offensive support, the Quakers showed promising results in certain areas. A strong defense, which was considered to be questionable before the season, held the Blue Hens scoreless for a 22-minute stretch over the first and second halves.
"I thought we were pretty competitive," Cloud said. "Although we didn't win, I'm happy with their effort and support of each other."
Sophomore goalie Amanda Jacobs picked up right where she left off last season, recording 10 saves while playing all 70 minutes in the cage.
While Cloud expressed her satisfaction at Jacobs' performance, she also noted that freshman goalie sensation Elizabeth Schlossberg could not play yesterday because of an injury and her availability for tonight is not known.
"They are still vying for the position," Cloud added.
For tonight's game, Cloud hopes that the Quakers' opener will better prepare them for their matchup with local rival Saint Joseph's (1-0), a much weaker team.
"To be honest, they should play the way they did [against Delaware] with better receiving and passing technique," Cloud said. "I think we're moving the ball pretty well."
