One week ago, the Penn women's lacrosse team, ranked 15th in the nation, controlled its own Ivy League destiny. But after losses to the top two teams in the Ivy League -- Princeton and Dartmouth -- the Quakers' Ivy title hopes were gone.
And it seems that maybe the wheels have begun to loosen on Penn's season.
The Quakers lost to a struggling Loyola team in Baltimore yesterday afternoon in a high-scoring 16-12 contest. The loss was their third straight and sixth in their last eight games, dropping Penn fell to 6-7 (3-3 Ivy) on the year.
The Greyhounds improved to 4-8 on the year, picking up their first win since a March 30 drubbing of George Mason.
Yesterday, Penn came out flat-footed, giving up a goal 23 seconds into the game and falling behind 8-1 with 10 minutes left in the first half. Maura Kenny picked up a hat trick in that run, and Rachel Schuck and Kate McHarg each scored a pair of goals.
To their credit, the Quakers fought back, scoring nine of the next 13 goals to cut their deficit to two at 12-10 with just more than nine minutes remaining.
All four Greyhound goals during that stretch were tallied by McHarg, who brought home the double hat trick on the afternoon.
And McHarg's teammates were able to do just enough to hold of the Quakers, scoring four of the last six goals, not allowing Penn to get any closer than two.
Freshman attacker Rachael Manson continued to be a bright spot amid the up-and-down season Penn has had, scoring three more goals yesterday to bring her season total to a now team-leading 19. Junior midfielder Emily Cochran also had a hat trick for the Quakers, and sophomore attacker Chrissy Muller added three assists.
As is often is the case with struggling teams, the Quakers failed to play a complete game.
They had been averaging just over eight goals per game so far this season, and the 12 yesterday were certainly a step up from that.
But the Quakers have only allowed fewer than 12 goals in one loss this season, so both sides have rarely come together.
Against Loyola, the Quakers used three different goalies -- junior Karrie Moore, senior Liz Lorelli freshman Sarah Waxman -- and neither seemed to be the answer. Moore gave up six goals and only stopped two, Lorelli gave up three without a save and Waxman stopped two and let seven through.
To finish the season above .500, Penn needs to beat Brown and Rutgers, both on the road.
Neither game will be easy, and to accomplish this task Penn definitely needs 60 minutes of its best effort.
