With a 10-8 lead in the final two minutes of Penn's last home game of the 2005 season, Dartmouth decided to stall. The Quakers' defense worked in vain to regain possession of the ball, but instead were forced to watch desperately as the final moments of their last match on Franklin Field this year were winding down.
Eventually, the buzzer sounded, confirming the final score -- a 10-8 loss for the Penn women's lacrosse team.
"This game was really important for the team -- it was the seniors' last game home," freshman goalie Sarah Waxman said. "We wanted to give it our all for them."
The 16th-ranked Quakers (6-6, 3-3 Ivy) stifled the No. 7 Big Green (11-0, 5-0) for the first four and a half minutes of play. Senior goalie Liz Lorelli earned one save in three minutes, and then was replaced by Waxman, who would stop seven goals the rest of the way.
After no score for almost five minutes, Dartmouth pulled ahead with three goals in less than two minutes. However, Penn rose to the challenge, responding with a goal from freshman Rachael Manson and another from senior Katie Spofford.
Dartmouth would tally four more goals by the end of the half. But each time the ball hit the back of Penn's net, the Quakers retaliated with a point of their own. With goals from Manson and Spofford, and a point from freshman Allison Ambrozy, the Quakers trailed 7-5 as they headed into the locker room.
Senior Emily Cochran, junior Ali Ryan and sophomore Chrissy Muller each tallied a goal in the second half to match three goals from the Big Green. But the Quakers' catch-up efforts never evened the score, as Dartmouth maintained at least a one-goal edge over the Red and Blue throughout.
Though Penn players and coaches offered generous praise for their team's defense, they pointed to difficulty on attack as a major weakness during Saturday's competition.
"At one point the momentum was definitely on our side," Muller said. "But in order to score goals you have to keep possession of the ball. Our defense did a really good job of coming up with blocks but we had some trouble getting the ball down the field."
Penn prepared specifically to shut down Dartmouth's Katieanne Christian, who came in with 19 goals in her last four games -- only one Penn player, Manson, has that many goals for the entire season.
The Quakers defense stayed true to its assignment, holding Christian to just three goals.
"They are a great team, they are 11-0 now, they move really well on attack, and they have one great player ... who we had our toughest defender on," Penn coach Karin Brower said. But she is just hard to stop,"
With three games remaining in the season, the Quakers are hoping that Saturday's troubles on offense will serve as a lesson for improvement. Penn expressed confidence that if the attack can reach its potential during upcoming matches against Loyola, Brown and Rutgers, then the team can close the season with wins.
"We scored some goals today, we were moving a lot better, but we have to create more opportunities for ourselves," Brower said. "The attack has got to step up and win these next few games; the defense is doing their job right now."
Penn's offense will have another opportunity to test its strength this Wednesday when Penn will travel to Baltimore to face Loyola.
