Sometimes a few early plays is all a team needs to put the game well out of reach.
That was certainly the case last night, as the Penn field hockey team scored early in a sound 3-0 victory over Monmouth.
The Quakers (6-6, 1-2 Ivy) dominated the matchup throughout the first half, as Lea Salese and Cara Calahan beat the Hawks' defense to score within five minutes of each other to put the Quakers up by two.
Salese's goal was her seventh on the year, while Calahan's was her fourth; both were unassisted.
Meanwhile, the Hawks (3-12) struggled mightily on offense and were unable to keep the ball in Penn territory long enough to even threaten Penn's goalkeeper, Elizabeth Schlossberg.
Penn's midfielders turned most of the Hawks' early offensive possessions into turnovers.
The game was effectively over 21 minutes in when sophomore midfielder Meghan Rose scored the Quakers' third goal.
A shot was initially blocked by Monmouth goalkeeper Carrie Colbert, but Penn forward Tracy Statter recovered the ball and passed to Rose, who found the back of the cage.
Rose leads the Quakers in assists with five, but her goal last night was the first of her collegiate career.
"We had a lot of opportunities on offense," she said after the game. "We haven't had a lot of shots this year."
Despite the near perfection of the first half, the Quakers' minds appeared to wander in the latter part of the game, resulting in sloppy play.
"I was disappointed with the second half," head coach Val Cloud said. "It wasn't that we weren't playing hard, it just wasn't going our way."
Cloud was forced to call a time-out early in the second half to refocus the team. She said that her players were not concentrating enough on recovering the ball within the circle and taking shots.
"We focused more on little passing. It was one and done, and you can't score like that."
In addition, Cloud was disappointed that her team only managed one penalty corner, which came with just under ten minutes left to play. Monmouth was awarded two short corners but the Hawks were unable to capitalize on either. Penn outshot the Hawks 19-4 overall.
Penn's lead allowed it to substitute several of its younger players in the game during the second half.
Late in the game, freshman goalie Alanna Butera, who relieved Schlossberg, made the Quakers' only save.
Penn's next matchup will be played at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y., on Friday, where the Quakers will face off against Columbia (5-6, 0-3 Ivy).
The Columbia game is a winnable one for Penn, considering the past. Earlier this year, the Lions needed two late goals to rally from a 2-0 first-half deficit to defeat Monmouth 3-2.
"I'm happy with the win, and I expect us to do well on Friday," Cloud said.
Princeton and Cornell now sit on top of the Ivy League standings with conference records of 4-0 and 4-1, respectively.
The Quakers will need help from either Brown or Harvard, who both play Princeton in the coming weeks, to have any shot at repeating as Ivy League champions.
The Red and Blue also must win all four of its remaining league games to have even a chance at winning their first back-to-back Ivy League championships since 1992-93.
Dartmouth 0 0 -- 0 PENN 3 0 -- 3 Scoring: 1st Half: 1, PENN, Salese 7, 7:51. 2, PENN, Calahan 4, 12:36. 3, PENN, Rose 1 (Statter), 21:20.
2nd Half: none.
