Last year, the Penn field hockey team failed to hold onto a 2-1 lead in their Ivy opener against Harvard, giving up three unanswered goals in the final 18 minutes in a 4-2 loss.
Saturday -- two days before the one-year anniversary of last season's defeat -- the Quakers once again surrendered a two-goal lead in the last 15 minutes, eventually falling to the Crimson in overtime, 3-2.
"We played really well in the first half," Penn coach Val Cloud said. "We just let the game slip away at the end."
Harvard midfielder Kate Gannon put a pass from senior midfielder Liz Andrews past Penn goalie Elizabeth Schlossberg 6:10 into overtime to cap off the Crimson's comeback.
It was the second game in a row that the Crimson (3-0, 1-0 Ivy) managed to erase an early deficit and subsequently win. Harvard came back from a 2-1 deficit in its opener against Vermont to win, 3-2.
But for the Quakers (1-2, 0-1), the late meltdown was a disappointing finish to an impressive first half of play.
"In the first half, we moved the ball very well," senior co-captain Emily Farnesi said. "But [Harvard] played really well in the last 10 minutes of the game."
Penn came out firing in the first half. Senior co-captain Jackie Lange scored off a pass from junior Liz Lorelli 9:20 into the first period and the Quakers took a 1-0 lead into halftime.
Lorelli's unassisted goal 5:12 into the second half gave Penn a 2-0 advantage.
But a rare defensive switch came first.
With a one-goal lead heading into the second half, Cloud replaced sophomore goalie Amanda Jacobs with Schlossberg. It was the freshman Schlossberg's first time entering a college game.
Jacobs, who started every game for the Quakers last year, had recorded four saves in her scoreless first half.
"We were impressed with the way both goalies played," Farnesi said. "Elizabeth and Amanda have such different styles, it's so hard to compare them."
Harvard began its comeback when sophomore Jen McDavitt scored off a penalty corner at the 57:47 mark.
Two minutes and 45 seconds later, junior Tiffany Egnaczyk evened the score at 2-2 when took a loose rebound and put it past Schlossberg.
"[Harvard] just took control at the end and rallied," Farnesi said.
Despite scoring the game's first two goals, Penn only managed seven shots for the entire game. Harvard, by contrast, had 25.
The Crimson also totaled 13 penalty corners, connecting on two of them for goals. The Quakers, however, finished with none of these scoring chances.
Harvard also had several penalty corners in the waning minutes of regulation but could not score until the extra session.
The Quakers had a tremendous opportunity 5:30 into the overtime when sophomore Kristen Gray had a breakaway near the Crimson net.
But Harvard goalie Katie Zacarian -- a two-time All-Ivy player -- along with senior Jen Ahn broke up the play at the top of the circle to end Penn's threat. Forty seconds later, Harvard would win.
Schlossberg finished the game with seven saves while giving up three goals in her collegiate debut. The former U.S. National Under-20 Team member had not played in Penn's first two games due to injury.
Despite Schlossberg's shaky start, Penn's defensive leader expressed optimism at the depth that the Quakers have in front of the cage.
"Even though our goalies have different styles of play, our defense does not have to switch our techniques at all," Farnesi said. "It's really nice to have both Amanda and Elizabeth playing behind us."
