With all the confidence of an Ivy League champion, the Penn field hockey team crushed Rutgers in a 4-0 victory Friday, earning the team's first opening-day win since 1997.
Two days later, the elation of a 2004 conference title and an exciting jump start to the 2005 season, piled high after a spring semester and long summer months, came toppling down in a 3-1 loss to cross-town rival Drexel.
At Drexel on Sunday, the Quakers (1-1) looked to extend their modest winning streak and maintain control of the Philadelphia area competition. Senior co-captain Lea Salese put the Red and Blue on the board first within the first five minutes of play on a pass from her co-captain Kristen Gray.
But the Dragons (2-1) fought back, turning the game around in the last 10 minutes of the first half when they successfully broke through the Penn defense to found the back of the net.
"We opened up against Drexel well, but then they stepped up their game and we didn't match it," Gray said.
Drexel lit up the scoreboard again early in the second half with a goal in the first two minutes. Just before the final moments, the Dragons sealed the 3-1 victory with another score.
"It was a mental thing," Salese said. Everyone wasn't playing the game that we could. Slowly we kept falling apart mentally."
The match provided a strong contrast to the confident and promising dynamics the Quakers had displayed just days earlier in New Jersey.
Against the Scarlet Knights (3-1), the Quakers took control early in the game, jumping out to a 3-0 lead by halftime and securing the win with a final goal in the second half. Gray tallied two points; Salese and junior Tracey Statter also scored for the Quakers.
Senior goalie Liz Schlossberg stood strong between the pipes, earning the Red and Blue its first shutout of the season with six saves.
Undeterred by the upset at Drexel, the team will look to bounce back to the level of play they displayed in their opening match.
"We might have underestimated Drexel coming off a big win at Rutgers," Salese said. "But it was good we had a loss this early in the season to help us fix our weaknesses."
The Quakers will have a perfect opportunity to prove their place as strong Ivy League and Philadelphia contenders when they face Philadelphia rival Saint Joseph's today.
At a team meeting after the upset at the hands of Drexel, the players discussed "the changes we need to make against St. Joe's," Gray said.
She also noted that the team will look to get "back to basics and [keep] it simple" in the subsequent practice.
"We are excited to get back to playing and we are ready to make a statement," Salese said.
PENN 3 1 -- 4Rutgers 0 0 -- 0
Scoring: 1st Half -- 1, PENN, Salese 1 (Calahan, Rose), 1:20; 2, PENN, Gray 1 (Calahan, Rose), 6:18; 3, PENN, Statter 1, 13:51.2nd Half -- 4, PENN, Gray 2, 47:51.
PENN 1 0 -- 1Drexel 1 2 -- 3
Scoring: 1st Half -- 1, PENN, Salese 2 (Gray), 4:30; 2, Drexel, Prentiss 1, 25:24.
2nd Half -- 3, Drexel, Mouser 1 (Bloemker), 37:51; 4, Drexel, Bloemker 1, 68:32.
