With a familiar face from the past on the opposing sideline, the Penn field hockey team's present and future struck again last night, as junior Liz Lorelli netted her fourth game-winner of the season.
Nicky Hitchens, a 1989 graduate of Penn and now an assistant coach for the Drexel field hockey team, was a three-time first-team All-Ivy selection and was Penn's last Ivy League Player of the Year, winning in 1988.
Last night she watched her Dragons (4-8) battle back from a two-goal deficit, but eventually fall to the Quakers, 3-2.
"Playing here against Penn has always had a special meaning for me," Hitchens said. "Seeing Val [Cloud] on the other bench, she was my coach."
Hitchens still holds the all-time Penn field hockey record for points in a season (35) and goals (15). The former Quakers standout was disappointed with her team's loss while expressing satisfaction about Penn's (6-4, 2-1 Ivy League) recent winning streak.
"Last year was my first year and that was the first time Drexel played Penn in a long time," Hitchens said, referring to the Dragons' 4-3 win over Penn last year. "I always want Penn to win, unless we're playing them."
Lorelli scored the game-winning goal off a rebound from Drexel goalkeeper Katie Dougherty with just under eight minutes remaining. The goal was Lorelli's second of the game and her team-leading 11th of the season.
The victory extended the Quakers' winning streak to four games, something they have not done since October of 1997.
Penn now stands two games over .500 and is 4-0 against Philadelphia Six rivals. The Quakers will travel to Temple next Wednesday for a chance to go undefeated in the Philly Six.
"The attitude of the team has changed because they know they can win," Penn coach Val Cloud said. "They keep fighting and they know what they have to do."
The Quakers jumped to an early lead when reigning Ivy League Player of the Week Cara Calahan scored off a pass from senior Marianne Rogers just nine minutes into the game. It was Calahan's fifth goal of the season.
Four minutes later, Lorelli tallied her first goal of the game off an assist from sophomore Kristen Gray to give the Quakers a 2-0 advantage.
The Dragons, however, battled back and narrowed the Quakers' lead to one after an unassisted goal by Drexel senior Lauren Zukowski.
Penn senior Emily Farnesi came up with a key defensive save, stopping the ball with goalkeeper Elizabeth Schlossberg out of the cage late in the first half to preserve Penn's one-goal lead heading into halftime.
However, Drexel knotted the score 10 minutes into the second half when sophomore Amanda Mouser drew Schlossberg out of the cage and managed to shoot it past her.
"Drexel played us tough, they came in with a great strategy and were able to get a few breakaways that led to goals," Cloud said.
Despite letting up two goals, the Quakers' defense made some very instrumental plays that helped keep the ball in Penn's hands for the majority of the second half.
Junior Sara Shelley consistently prevented the ball from heading past midfield, setting up several of Penn's 12 corners that eventually led to Lorelli's game-winning goal.
With time winding down, Penn junior Bernice Raveche and sophomore Kelly McFadden shadowed the Drexel forwards and broke up two scoring chances that would have sent the game into overtime.
"We have a different mentality in the second half," Raveche said. "We come out and know we only have 35 minutes left, we want to shut them out and preserve the win."
Unlike last year's seven one-goal losses, this year's Penn team has been finding ways to finish out games.
"Our whole mentality in the preseason talks was 'close isn't good enough,'" Raveche said. "We know we're a good team, but now that we have a winning record, we're definitely doing what we want to do."
