Five seconds into the second half of the biggest lacrosse game of her life, Penn sophomore Becca Edwards was flat on her back.
Playing against No. 15 Princeton with the Ivy League title on the line, Edwards's stick got caught with an opponent's while she tried to get the opening draw control of the second half. She went down in a heap.
"I was so scared," she said. "Anything with the knee is a scary injury. I knew nothing had popped or anything real serious, but I still was really nervous since I wanted to get back in there."
Fortunately for Edwards, the trainers let her come back several minutes later. Unfazed by the injury, she played solidly for the rest of the half, scoring Penn's 13th goal with 8:49 remaining.
But even if the Flourtown, Pa., native hadn't come back for the rest of No. 3 Penn's 14-10 win, she still would have given the Quakers a large contribution.
In the first half, Edwards had four goals, spurring the Quakers on to a 9-4 halftime lead and leading all scorers at the break.
"We knew it was a big game," she said. "I saw opportunities and took them, and it just worked out in our favor. I was very happy because it kept the momentum going in our direction."
Along with her second half goal, the sophomore now has 25 tallies for the season, good for third on the team.
After playing such a large role in earning the share of the Ivy League championship, Edwards was ecstatic after the game.
"It's 25 years of revenge," she said, referencing the length of the team's Ivy League championship drought. "We just wanted to win and bring Penn back to the program that we knew it could be."
Now that the Quakers will advance to the NCAA Tournament, Edwards will get another chance to demonstrate the caliber of the Penn lacrosse program.
This time, she'll hope to stay on her feet the whole time.
