The women's lacrosse team led for a total of 35 seconds yesterday afternoon against the visiting Delaware Fighting Blue Hens.
Luckily for Penn, that half a minute came in the closing seconds of the game, giving the Quakers a 12-11 victory and sending their record to 4-1 on the season.
The Red and Blue moved up several spots in the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association rankings this week to No. 14, and their victory over No. 20 Delaware at Franklin Field can only help their cause.
The Blue Hens (3-2) jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead just five minutes into the contest. Although Penn clawed back to tie the game several times, the Quakers repeatedly had trouble scoring a go-ahead goal to take the lead.
That is, until the clock showed :35 and the teams were deadlocked at 11. Junior Ali Ryan found freshman Rachael Manson in front of the net and the rookie did the rest, putting the Red and Blue ahead for good and completing her hat trick in the process.
"Ali Ryan gave me an awesome pass and I was wide open," Manson said. "We were working for the last shot so I was trying to get open, but I didn't want to force anything either, so it was really just an awesome pass."
With the victory, Penn climbed to 3-0 in games decided by one goal, having defeated Ohio State in triple overtime and Yale on Saturday by the same margin.
Head coach Karin Brower, however, believes the game was unnecessarily close.
"I'm definitely glad that we pulled it out. I am just frustrated that we're in these close games -- aside from the first one, Ohio State -- because we're just not playing well," Brower said. "It was not a good showing on our part, so we've got a lot to work on."
Although the two teams put on an entertaining show for the crowd, Brower was probably right. Penn sunk to Delaware's level, making several unnecessary miscues -- the Quakers committed 17 turnovers to the Blue Hens' 10.
Several of the giveaways occurred on the defensive end, and more often than not, they ended up in the back of the Quakers' net.
"It's about having the confidence to bring the ball up, and we didn't have it today," Brower said. "We've got to change that. We're going to be doing a lot of drills with bringing the ball up with pressure."
On attack, Delaware goalie Patrice Hughes caused all kinds of headaches for the Penn offense. Not only did she save eight shots, but she also brought an aggressive mentality to the game, disrupting passing lanes and making steals.
"It was definitely harder to set up our plays, because a lot of them come from feeds from behind," Manson said. "We had to adjust, but we did a good job, and instead of just going in one direction, we were okay with swinging the ball a little bit more and just staying composed."
Brower felt that her defense turned in a lackluster effort. The game on the whole was much too high-scoring for her liking.
"I'm a little disappointed that, especially defensively, we got too many goals scored on us on [poor] one-on-one defense and [poor] team defense. We were just struggling to bring the ball up the field," Brower said.
Despite the team's subpar showing, as it was termed by Brower, the Quakers turned it around in the last 10 minutes -- when it mattered. Delaware did not score a goal in the final 11:54, as the Red and Blue controlled the ball for much of that time, came up with key defensive stops and got some excellent play from senior Liz Lorelli in goal.
"I don't know what our problem is. Why can't we play like that the entire game?" Manson mused afterward. "But when we have to do it, we know how to do it, so it's better that we come out with the win."
The Quakers got outstanding contributions from the midfield. Senior co-captain Katie Spofford and junior Emily Cochran contributed four points apiece in the victory.
"This year has been amazing," Manson said. "The team is awesome, and we're playing with so much more confidence as each game goes by."
