Adjusting to the collegiate level of competition was a rapid process for Penn freshman Chrissy Muller, who led the Penn women's lacrosse team to a 15-12 victory over Delaware in its second game of the season last night.
The Quakers, after opening their season with a loss to nationally ranked powerhouse Loyola last Saturday, came up with a big win in what was a very exciting game.
Trailing by a goal at intermission, the Red and Blue seemed to let the game slip from their reach as the Blue Hens scored four goals right out of the gate to start the second half.
"We couldn't really stop them," Penn coach Karin Brower said, also highlighting Penn's multitude of turnovers during this span.
Now faced with a 10-5 deficit and with only 25 minutes to play, the Quakers rallied to score 10 unanswered goals to seize a commanding lead.
But just as they thought they were home free with just under four minutes left to play, Delaware responded with two quick goals to cut Penn's lead to three.
"It was a little scary at the end,"Brower admitted, as she watched her defense struggle to hold on.
Close calls aside, Penn shut down the Delaware offense and went on to capture their first win of the season.
Among the Quakers' three four-goal scorers was Muller, who was eager to play well after Saturday's disappointing loss.
"I wanted to score because we didn't play that well" on Saturday, Muller said. "We just did what we worked on in practice and it just opened up a lot of opportunities."
The other Quakers who took advantage of their scoring opportunities were senior co-captain Lindsey Cassidy and sophomore Emily Cochran.
The trio's play was a large reason for the tremendous swing in score that came in the second half.
After the third goal of the Quakers' scoring spree, they just kept winning the draw and regaining possession.
Brower noted this as the turning point of the game, when Penn's attack put on the pressure.
"I thought our attack in the second half came alive," Brower said. "And we just put it all together."
Despite the strong offensive effort, Brower still noted her team's weaknesses in the defensive area.
"There's always stuff to work on," Muller said. "Like reading the defender and realizing it's a one-on- one."
As the freshman emphasized, lacrosse is just as much a mental game as a physical one.
"Being a young team, the momentum of the game can get in our heads a lot," Brower said.
She was pleased to see Penn stand up to the pressure of a five- goal deficit and turn the entire game around.
