Quakers dominate possession in win

A little pneumonia won't stop Chrissy Muller.

The junior attacker bounced back in top form after sitting out the Quakers' season opener against Monmouth, scoring a pair of goals and assisting on another in Penn's 14-6 victory over No. 20 Temple Wednesday night. The win brought the Quakers to 2-0.

"I really wanted to play today," Muller said. "So hopefully I'm not sick tomorrow morning" from playing in the cold.

Muller hopefully won't fall ill again, but the Owls might feel a little nauseous at the thought of their sloppy performance at Franklin Field. Temple managed to pick up only five ground balls and clear the ball four out of 10 times, allowing the Quakers to keep the game in the Owls' half of the field.

"We really wanted to have momentum for 60 minutes, and I definitely think we controlled the pace of the game," said sophomore attacker Rachel Manson, who netted three goals, including two in a span of nine seconds at the tail-end of the game. "I'd definitely say about 75 percent of the game we were on attack."

The lopsided time of possession was made possible by the Quakers' dominant defense.

Penn held Temple to just one goal in the second half by allowing a paltry 13 shots on goal and forcing 23 turnovers.

Coach Karin Brower believed that the defense also had an instrumental role in setting the tone for the attack.

"We finally had more caused turnovers than turnovers, which has been a stat that has been killing me for awhile," Brower said. "When you do that you gain more confidence in the attack when you know you can get it back."

That confidence may have been just what the attack needed to take advantage of its opportunities. Penn converted two out of three free-position shots and put the ball in the goal however it could, whether that be on a breakaway or on a loose ball near the net.

"I think that our attack capitalized when they needed to capitalize," Brower said.

Even though the game was hardly in doubt for the Quakers, they may have expected a bigger fight from a team that is currently ranked above them in the polls, and one that hung tough with then-No. 5 Virginia just three days earlier. At least, that's what Penn's gameplan seemed to suggest.

"We knew that they had a big game against UVA," Muller said. "We didn't want them to get any kind of leeway in the game and think that they could beat us."

Despite the Owls' recent strong play, the Quakers' victory wasn't an upset by any means.

After a long streak of Temple dominance, the Red and Blue has now taken three consecutive games against its cross-town rival.

But it is important that Penn doesn't become complacent.

The Quakers didn't play perfect lacrosse, and they may need to make some minor adjustments.

"I think there were times they sort of rushed it a little bit," Brower said. "There was a span of greatness and a little panic."

If Penn wants to have a fighting chance against No. 1 Northwestern Tuesday, any trace of panic will need to be eliminated.

But for now, the Quakers can take solace in the fact that last night, the greatness shined through.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.