The Penn field hockey team could have come up with many excuses if it lost last night's game at Lafayette.
The Quakers could have blamed the loss on the fact that a car accident on the Northeast Extension caused the team to arrive in Easton, Pa., just 15 minutes before game time.
The Red and Blue could have also argued that the added pressure from a rare television appearance was too much to handle, as the game was broadcast on College Sports Television.
But Penn didn't need to make any excuses last night, as it beat Lafayette, 1-0.
"We had a lot of stats but not many goals," Penn coach Val Cloud said. "However, we did have one more goal than they did."
That goal came 11:06 into the game, when junior Cara Calahan and senior Sara Shelley sent the ball off a penalty corner to junior Kristen Gray, who put the ball past Leopards goaltender Jill Lambert.
"We really needed the win for our confidence," Gray said.
The Quakers (2-3, 0-1 Ivy) played tough defense all night, holding Lafayette (2-3) to just three shots on goal and five total shots. No Leopards player had more than one shot on the night.
Penn, on the other hand, saw several players record multiple shots.
Junior Lea Salese had two shots on goal, as did Gray. Senior Liz Lorelli and Shelley each had two shots, one on goal, during the game.
Cloud said that Penn had to improve on converting penalty corners. The Quakers were only able to convert on one of their 12 attempts.
The Penn coach also noted that the Quakers had to stop double-teaming as often.
If Cloud's team improves in these two areas, it should be successful as it heads into its second Ivy game of the season this weekend.
On Saturday, the Quakers take on Cornell (1-3, 0-1 Ivy) in Ithaca, N.Y. Penn topped the Big Red last season, 3-0, at Franklin Field.
Cornell also played Lafayette this season. The Big Red fell to the Leopards, 2-1, last Sunday in Ithaca.
Lafayette had similar stats in the Cornell and Penn games. In Ithaca, the Leopards rattled off one more shot and two more shots on goal.
But unlike against the Quakers, Lafayette was able to convert two of its five shots on goal into points.
As for the CSTV television coverage, both Gray and Cloud said that they paid very little attention to the cameras and commentators.
"I did not even notice it," Gray said.
The game will debut on the cable network this Friday night at 8 p.m.
The matchup will then be rebroadcast Saturday at noon and 5 p.m., Sunday at 6 a.m., next Tuesday at 7 p.m. and next Thursday at noon.
PENN 1 0 -- 1 Lafayette 0 0 -- 0
Goals: 1. Gray (P) 11:06 (Shelley, Calahan)
