The Penn field hockey team began the season on a losing note, dropping its first two games of the season on the road in the state of Virginia.
Senior forward Liz Lorelli and sophomore goalie Liz Schlossberg had strong performances in the Quakers' season-opening road trip. Lorelli scored the only goal for the Quakers in the two games.
But Penn coach Val Cloud was not worried about the losses to William and Mary on Friday and Virginia Commonwealth on Sunday.
"We've never played VCU before," Cloud said. "We have played William and Mary before but not in recent seasons. I knew they would be tough"
The Red and Blue lost to William and Mary 2-0, but the game was a story of two halves.
The first half was controlled totally by William and Mary, with the Tribe earning a 2-0 advantage.
The first goal was scored by William and Mary senior forward Sue Taylor in the 20th minute of the first half. Ten minutes later, Tribe junior Kelly Giles scored their second goal.
In the second half, however, Schlossberg and the Penn defense were able to shut out William and Mary. Lorelli led the Quakers' offensive effort with four shots on goal.
Against VCU, things looked up for Penn at first, as Lorelli scored the game's first goal with 25 minutes left in the first half.
The Rams would not score until 11 minutes into the second period. Then a defensive breakdown by the Quakers allowed VCU to post two more goals to take the 3-1 victory at home.
VCU (3-1) and William and Mary (3-0) were already well into their regular season schedule when they met the Quakers (0-2). Both top-caliber schools had started their preseason activities much earlier then Penn.
"They've been practicing since Aug. 13, and we've been practicing since Aug. 25," Cloud said.
"I couldn't travel with the [Penn] freshmen because of orientation," Cloud said. "Otherwise I was happy and hopefully we can use this experience to our advantage."
This week the Red and Blue looks to face off with two familiar opponents. Today they will face St. Joseph's (2-1) at 8 p.m.
"We have the crosstown rivalry and the city series that we started last year," Cloud said. "We were the city series winners last year, which includes the Big 5 schools."
They can also look forward to an Ancient Eight opener on Saturday. The Quakers face off with Harvard (1-0), a consistent power in the Ivy League. Both games this week will be held at Franklin Field.
William and Mary 2, PENN 0
Goals: 1 - Taylor (W&M;) 19:10; 2 - Giles (W&M;) 29:42.
Virginia Commonwealth 3, PENN 1
Goals: 1 - Lorelli (P) 8:16; 2 - Verloop (V) 49:30; 3 - Verloop 2 (V) 62:23; 4 - Mustafaa (V) 66:50.
