Any great team needs veteran leadership and young talent.
In the second half of the Penn field hockey team's 3-0 drubbing of Georgetown, the Quakers displayed plenty of both.
After a scoreless first half dominated by Penn (7-6, 1-2 Ivy), the flood gates opened in the second with a beautiful goal from senior Lea Salese. The Quakers never looked back, adding goals from Nicole Black and Kristen Gray and holding the Hoyas (3-10) to only three shots for the entire game.
The shutout by goalie Elizabeth Schlossberg was Penn's fifth of the season, and second consecutive, a sign of growing momentum as the season winds down.
"This was definitely a win the team needed," Black said after the game.
Black, a sophomore, had the unenviable task of coming off the bench to take a penalty stroke in the second half. She showed no effects of standing in the chilly October weather and effortlessly flicked it home.
Did she feel any pressure under the lights and in front of her family?
"No," she said. "It's something we practice."
Black was not the only young player holding her own.
Freshman Rachel Eng's performance may not show up in the box score, but her contribution hardly went unnoticed. Playing in her first game at center-forward, Eng spent most of the game making life miserable for the Hoya defense.
"She's so flexible," coach Val Cloud said of Eng, who has played virtually every position this season.
"She's a nice player to have on the team."
In a manner typical of the team, Eng credited everyone but herself for her development.
"The environment is an optimistic one," she said referring to the team and the parents that show up to every game. "I couldn't have done it without them."
Players like Eng and Black are key to the future success of the program, and both agree that filling the shoes of current seniors will not be easy.
"The team is going to feel a loss," Black acknowledged.
"We won't ever be able to replace them," Eng added.
Gray, who notched her fourth goal of the season, says the future of the program looks really good and the talent that the young players showed tonight makes her look forward to coming back as an alumna.
But she also mentioned that this season isn't over.
"To win out would be awesome."
Winning their last four games, all against Ivy opponents, could mean a share of the Ivy League title. If Princeton loses to Harvard, and the Quakers win their next three, Penn's final game against the Tigers would be for the Ivy League championship.
"We are very capable (of winning the last four) if we take it one game at a time," Cloud said.
The first game of the final stretch is Sunday against Yale. A loss means no championship possibility for Penn.
A win keeps the dream alive.
Georgetown 0 0 -- 0PENN 0 3 -- 3
Scoring: 1st Half: None.
2nd Half: 1, PENN, Salese 8, 43:08; 2, PENN, Black 2, 51:07; 3, PENN, Gray 4 (Rose, C. Calahan) 67:07.
