By Krista Hutz
The Daily Pennsylvanian
Penn field hockey coach Val Cloud expected sophomore transfer Margaretha Ehret to make an immediate impact for her team.
And with one goal she did just that.
Ehret scored the Red and Blue's first goal of the season and her first in a Quakers uniform, in Penn's 2-0 win over Harvard (0-3, 0-1 Ivy) on Saturday.
This win is Penn's first of the season, bringing to an end their three-game losing streak.
The goal came less than six minutes into the game off of a play when the Quakers (1-3, 1-0) earned a penalty corner. Junior forward Jamie Calahan knocked the ball in to junior midfielder Meghan Rose, who made the stick stop and set-up Ehret up for a perfect shot.
"I think that corners were something that we struggled with in the game before and it was great to get a corner in the first few minutes and actually execute on it," Ehret said.
Cloud noted how that goal affected her team.
"It was very hard for them to get back and focus on the next play," she said. "It showed them, 'Hey guys, we can score.' All of a sudden, then, they can pick up and play with a little bit more confidence."
And that confidence could be seen on the field, as midfielder and team captain Nyssa Liebermann noted.
"I think for the first time we dictated our own type of plays," Liebermann said. "The other three games we've had spurts of that, but we kind of let them play their game and we maybe mimicked that."
The second half saw a few momentum changes, as the Crimson saw its best chance to score early in the second.
"We called a time out and they had momentum," Liebermann said. "But for us to be able to get our game back, that was all mental. We did it, and that's awesome."
And the Red and Blue showed it was not done with scoring for the day.
Late into the second half, junior forward Nicole Black took a lose ball up the field and into the circle on a breakaway. She was one-on-one with Harvard goalie Kelly Knoche when the keeper tripped her up. Knoche was issued a green card for the foul, and Penn was awarded a penalty shot.
Rose took it for the Quakers, beating Knoche in front of the net.
"It was such an awesome set-up," Cloud said. "Meg's stroke was such a great stroke."
And that goal sealed the game for the Quakers.
"To me when we got that second goal, not to let up, but I could relax a little bit," Cloud said.
This was one of the first games of the season in which Cloud was able to make many substitutions, giving some younger players a chance on the field.
"I think our depth showed up," Cloud said. "It was nice to give some of our starters a break and not lose much in terms of production on the field."
Penn took eight shots, all on goal, to the Crimson's five. Rose led the Quakers with three shots, but Cloud noted that the game was a total team effort.
"I thought they all had a good game, at different times, different people rose to the occasion," Cloud said. "And that's what we're after because in other years, we had a star player, but we're going to do this together."
And the Quakers will look for the same cohesion as they play at Lafayette on Wednesday.
