The Penn field hockey team came into Friday's game against Columbia riding a streak of five straight come-from-behind wins.
But Friday, Penn's defense did not let Columbia come close to taking the early lead.
Junior Liz Lorelli continued her offensive explosion with two goals, and the Quakers' defense did not permit a single shot on goal as Penn shut out Columbia, 6-0, on Baker Field.
The Red and Blue (8-4, 3-1 Ivy) recorded a season-high 13 shots as five different Quakers scored the six goals. It was Penn's highest scoring output since a 6-3 win over La Salle in October of last year.
On the other side of the field, Penn's revamped defense held the struggling Lions (1-12, 0-4) to just one shot for the entire contest -- which went wide of the cage.
"It's great to have a big Ivy win under our belts," Penn coach Val Cloud said. "We have not dominated an Ivy team like this in awhile."
Lorelli's goals came at the end of the first and second stanzas, increasing her team-leading total to 14. The junior is now one goal shy of tying Penn's all-time goals in a season record, held by Nicky Hitchens and Lisa Romig.
"Liz keeps finding a way to score," Cloud said. "It's remarkable, it seems like just a matter of time 'til she reaches the record."
The Quakers began their scoring rampage nine minutes into the game when sophomore Kristen Gray scored on a penalty corner off a pass from junior Sara Shelley.
Shelley tallied a career-high three assists in the game, bringing her team-leading total to eight. Her second assist, to senior Marianne Rogers, gave the Quakers a 2-0 lead.
Lorelli's goals sandwiched two more Penn goals, scored by sophomore Cara Calahan and freshman Tracy Stratter. Stratter scored her first collegiate goal off of Shelley's third assist 10 minutes into the second half.
Freshman Elizabeth Schlossberg oversaw a scoreless first half in her fourth start this season, while sophomore goalie Amanda Jacobs did the same in the second half. It was Jacobs' first appearance since the Villanova game on Oct. 1, four games -- and four Penn wins -- ago.
Both goalies, however, might as well have taken the night off, since neither was forced to make any saves.
Led by senior Emily Farnesi and junior Bernice Raveche, the Quakers' defense completely dominated Columbia's sluggish offense, not only holding them to no shots on goal but also consistently pushing the ball upfield toward the Lions' net.
"Our defense played extremely well today, they kept the pressure on for the whole game," Cloud said.
Unlike Penn's previous five wins, the Quakers' defense was not forced to rally in the second half after allowing their opponent to score first.
"I think we're definitely a second-half defense," Raveche said in an interview last week. "In the beginning of the game we want to see how fast our defenders are compared with our opponent's forwards."
The Quakers are now getting ready for the remainder of their Ivy schedule as they try to clinch their second winning season in the Ancient Eight since 1998.
"We want to come out just as tough against Brown, Yale and Princeton," Cloud said.
