Quakers hold on to early lead, defeat Rider in season opener

Perhaps the biggest question for the Penn women's soccer team coming into this season was how it would replace the offense generated by the team's all-time leading goal scorer, Katy Cross, who graduated last year.

It took all of six minutes to find the answer.

With exactly that much time expired in the Quakers' season opener against Rider Sunday, sophomore midfielder Rachel Fletcher redirected a pass from senior forward Carolyn Cross into the Broncs' net. Cross doubled the lead nine minutes later, and Penn held on from there for a 2-1 win at Rhodes Field.

"I think it was a good start for our first game," Cross said.

It was a particularly meaningful triumph for Quakers coach Darren Ambrose. Not only did the Sheffield, England native record his 50th win as Penn head coach, but the new formation in which he deployed his players proved successful.

Penn lined up with three defenders, five midfielders and two forwards, a departure from the four-defender back line of previous years. Ambrose also employed six substitutes -- all attacking players -- including five freshmen.

"The strength of the team is in the engine room; it's in the three central midfield players," Ambrose said. "And we have not just three, we have four or five that are very, very good, and all of them are quite capable of starting. It's a great situation for me as a coach."

The midfield did most of the work in creating both of Penn's goals. On the first, senior Jen Price played a short pass to Cross from the right wing, from which Cross ran into the 18-yard box. Rider goalkeeper Hannah Harris misjudged Cross' pass to Fletcher, who was left wide open for an easy goal.

The second goal started with senior midfielder Meg Pittman, who played a ball from the middle of Rider's half of the field to Fletcher out wide on the left. Fletcher then hit a low pass into the middle of the box, where an unmarked Cross cleverly flicked the ball past Harris.

It was an impressive display, and it demonstrated the potency of Penn's attack.

Ambrose admitted that this year's team can't replace Katy Cross' goals "with one player, but you can probably replace them with three or four players, which is what we're hoping to do."

While the offense shared the workload, the defense had no such luxury. Senior defender Robin Watson had plenty to do as the lone center back, but after the game she had few complaints.

"It's a little bit different, a little bit more running going on, a different organization," she said. "I can't say it's really harder per se, but I guess it's a little bit more stressful in the back."

The stress level was raised in the 63rd minute, when a clearance by junior defender Megan Boys hit Rider forward Brittney Smith in the chest. Smith quickly shot over Penn goalkeeper Jessica Keeley, who had come off the goal line to try to get the ball, and cut the Quakers lead in half.

That was all the offense Rider could muster, however, leaving Ambrose and his players in a good mood ahead of tomorrow's trip to Princeton, N.J., for the Princeton Invitational tournament. Penn will face Loyola Marymount tomorrow evening and Arizona -- ranked No. 18 in the nation by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America's preseason poll -- on Saturday afternoon.

Rider 0 1 -- 1PENN 2 0 -- 2

Scoring: 1st Half -- 1, PENN, Fletcher 1 (Price, Cross) 7th; 2, PENN, Cross 1 (Fletcher) 15th.

2nd Half -- 3, Rider, Smith, 63rd.

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