The numbers didn't lie.
The Penn women's soccer team outshot Drexel, 23-10, and had four corner kicks to the Dragons' one.
Despite these stats, Penn trailed, 1-0, at halftime, but rallied to win, 2-1.
"We really did not come to play today, and that's unacceptable at this stage in the year for this team," Penn coach Darren Ambrose said.
And although past performances do not necessarily indicate future results, between Penn's 5-1 victory over Drexel (2-10) last season and its 3-1 win against Cornell Saturday, this game was not supposed to be as close as it was.
Dragons senior Sandra Ackerman scored the game's first goal in the 24th minute, and by halftime it was clear that the Quakers (5-2-2) would need to step it up to win.
"The longer the half went on, the more confidence Drexel gained," Ambrose said. "We needed a little bit of heart and a little bit of passion, to play with some conviction."
Senior defender Heather Issing said that a fiery halftime speech wasn't necessary to get the team in shape for when they went back out on the field.
It was "a decision that we were not going to lose to a team like Drexel... a conscious effort."
The breakthrough came in the 59th minute. Junior Rachelle Snyder played a long ball over the Dragons' defense, which Katy Cross gained possession of, and Penn's all-time points leader chipped it over goalkeeper Melissa Stuhler to tie the game.
The game-winner came in the 68th minute, when Cross took the ball down the wing and delivered an early service into the box. Sophomore Carolyn Cross met it on a first-time volley, and Penn had the lead.
"I think just persistence and continuing to fight let us finally score," junior midfielder Lydia Bojcun said.
And although Katy Cross played prominent roles in both Penn goals yesterday, Bojcun thinks that it was more than just the Claremont, Calif., native's play that got the team over the hump and on the board.
"It was some pretty nice soccer when the goals actually happened, but it doesn't have to do with any one individual person," Bojcun said. "The team fought hard through the second half."
This was the fourth straight game in which the Red and Blue were scored on first, and Ambrose and Issing would both like to see that trend stop as soon as possible.
"It's a little bit of concentration and all of your heart," Issing said. "It's almost like we're creating a mental obstacle for ourselves."
"We need to have a little bit of leadership, a little bit of composure in front of goal," Ambrose said.
Bojcun is glad that the Drexel game is behind the Quakers and in the books as a win. Penn can now turn its attention to Saturday's game at Columbia.
"Hey, we worked through it, we got the win," she said. "I think we really just need to look forward from here."
