The Penn women's soccer team dominated a very good Harvard team for long stretches Saturday afternoon.
It was not enough.
Unfortunately for Penn, those long stretches did not include the first few minutes of the half.
In the first 15 minutes of each half, the Quakers (3-1-2, 0-1 Ivy) allowed a goal. The rest of the game, Penn controlled the play, but could only score once on the day -- and found its first mark in the loss column after its first Ivy League game of the season.
"We've been starting slowly as a team," Penn assistant coach Chris Kouns said. "It takes us the first 15 minutes before we decide that we're going to kick in and really play."
This game was considerably more open than last year's 0-0 tie at Rhodes Field.
The Crimson (3-3-1, 1-0 Ivy) got on the board first in the 12th minute when senior Alisa Sato scored off a pass from Alisha Moran. Penn then tied the game in the 32nd minute on freshman Samantha Spencer's first collegiate goal.
Penn midfielder Devon Sibole played a long ball from the midfield to fellow junior Katy Cross on the left wing. The Quakers' all-time points leader cut inside along the endline and sent a low pass to Spencer, who had her back to goal and a Crimson defender marking her. The Los Angeles native was able to turn on the six-yard line, and fired a shot past goalkeeper Katie Shields to make it 1-1.
Spencer's "eyes just lit up, and she was so excited," midfielder Jenna Linden said. "One of Sam's biggest strengths is turning with the ball with a defender on her back."
Kouns called the play "a great goal... she had great composure."
"For Sammy to get a goal like that in an Ivy League game, that was really a tremendous thing," Kouns added.
Kouns was also pleased with the build-up to the goal.
"It did come from the back to the midfield to the final third, and then put away," he said. "It wasn't that we just scored -- it was a great team effort to create that goal."
The Quakers would get the better of the play for the rest of the half, but Harvard seized the lead just two minutes after halftime. Sato and Moran linked up again, but this time it was Moran's goal and Sato's assist.
"It kind of gave Harvard that little spark," Linden said. "It's unfortunate that it happened so early because the whole time we were trying to play catch up."
Penn would again take control midway through the half, but could not tie the game again. Although Harvard outshot the Quakers, 21-9, Linden believes that the numbers don't tell the whole truth about the game, in particular about Penn's ability to get the ball down the field.
"We didn't capitalize on the chances that we could have had to shoot," Linden said.
Sato and Moran each had five shots on goal for the Crimson, while junior Emily Colvin had four. Junior midfielder Lydia Bojcun led the Quakers with two shots.
Linden also praised junior goalkeeper Anna Halse, who had seven saves on the day.
"Anna played unbelievably," she said.
Kouns would like to see the team work harder to produce a full effort for all 90 minutes as the Ivy League season kicks into high gear.
"We've just got to find a way that we can play an entire game," Kouns said. "You're not going to beat the higher-level teams for only 25 minutes a half."
Penn's next game is against George Mason on Wednesday at 4 p.m. in Fairfax, Va. The game had originally been scheduled for Sept. 19 but was postponed because of Hurricane Isabel.
