Just like in practice, the corner was push, stop, shoot. Only this time, Kathryn Rose added a little something extra.
Rose converted the corner by deflecting Nicole Black's shot over the head of Cornell goalkeeper Shannon Prescott and her teammates swarmed the field, celebrating the Quakers' 3-2 overtime win over the previously unbeaten Big Red.
"It was a great team effort," Black said. "It summarizes our whole game plan."
Penn (2-4, 1-1 Ivy) never led the game until the final instant. Cornell (3-1, 1-1) started the scoring midway through the first half, when Helena Haas converted a corner from Belen Martinez.
With a one-goal deficit, the Quakers started to feel the pressure, and they were on the attack for most of the remainder of the contest.
"We all knew that we were a better team," senior co-captain Jamie Calahan said. The Cornell goal "was a crappy goal, and we needed to step it up."
That had positive results when Calahan dove to hit in Rachel Eng's cross. Calahan, however, was quick to dismiss it as simply being "in the right place at the right time."
The Big Red came out firing in the second half, getting two quick corners. Kate Thompson scored on the second one on an entry pass from Martinez.
Head coach Val Cloud blamed the defensive struggles on Cornell's unique style.
"It was a different kind of game," Cloud said. "They're fast and they carried the ball a lot, but I think we adjusted well."
The adjustments paid off, as the Quakers held the Big Red scoreless the rest of the day and tied the score when Kara Bolger put back the rebound on her own shot with just under nine minutes remaining.
"Getting that second goal with the remaining couple of minutes was very uplifting," Black said. "It helped us gain momentum back, and that's what we carried with us into overtime. We knew after working so hard, we couldn't lose in overtime."
Thanks to great efforts from Black and Rose, along with staunch defense in the extra period, Penn was able to pull out its second straight win.
And after a disappointing 0-4 start to the season, a little bit of traction early in the Ivy slate was just what the Quakers were looking for.
