The field hockey team's matchup against Villanova last night at Franklin Field could easily have been over in the 43rd minute.
That was when Villanova junior Megan Foster scored an unassisted goal to give the 15th- ranked Wildcats a solid 2-0 lead.
But Penn junior forward Tracy Statter knew that the Quakers was still in the game.
The Red and Blue would ultimately storm back to a 3-2 victory in what head coach Val Cloud called "one of the best comebacks I've been involved in."
The Quakers got off to a slow start, unable to manage a single shot against the Wildcats defense throughout the first half.
"They're usually more physical than we are," Cloud said.
Penn responded after falling behind, though, as Statter found the cage with an assist from senior Cara Calahan. The score came just 21 seconds after the Wildcats' second goal.
"We tried to go with speed right along the side," Statter said of the first goal. "We kind of got a little lucky."
The Quakers didn't need luck after that. With five minutes left to play, freshman Rachel Eng lifted a lob shot into the outside corner of the cage to tie the game at two.
Moments later, Penn forced a series of corners and took the lead with a wide-open shot by Statter after a deflection off of the opposing goalkeeper.
"I was in the right place at the right time," she said.
The Quakers then showed that they could compete defensively, shutting down a Villanova breakaway with slightly over a minute left.
Cloud praised her players' determination on defense.
"When you have the ball, it's easy," she said. "It's when you don't have it that you really need the effort."
The Penn defense held Villanova down for the last 25 minutes, forcing turnovers and pressuring the opposing forwards. Overall, the Wildcats managed only 12 shots despite their 14 short corners.
The Red and Blue may have still been feeling the sting of a loss last year to their cross-town rivals.
"It was a tough loss for us [in 2004] losing 1-0," Statter said. "We were just really stoked to play another city team."
The team still has a difficult road ahead, with the next contest coming this Saturday against Dartmouth at Franklin Field.
The Big Green is 4-3 this season, and split its two Ivy League games -- winning on the road at Brown but losing at home to Princeton.
Only one Dartmouth player -- Jessica Saraceno -- has more than one goal on the year. She has two.
Cloud, though, was optimistic about her program's reputation.
"We got votes," she said of the last round of rankings. "We're looking pretty good if we keep it going."
(15) 'Nova 1 1 -- 2PENN 0 3 -- 3
Scoring: 1st Half: 1, Villanova, Rogers 9 (Coveleski) 29:26.
2nd Half: 2, Villanova, Foster 13, 43:28; 3, PENN, Statter 2 (Calahan) 43:49; 4, PENN, Eng 1, 65:00; 5, PENN, Statter 3 (Rose) 67:41.
