They were looking for a blank slate, a new beginning. Instead, the players on the Penn field hockey team produced a another slow start in their 3-1 loss to Cornell on Saturday in both teams' Ivy League opener.
"We were looking at [the conference season] like a new season," said freshman Abigail Egan, who scored the only Penn goal.
The Red and Blue (1-6, 0-1 Ivy), though, did just the opposite. Continuing its season trend, Penn was sluggish at the game's start, and by halftime, was down 2-0.
On the other hand, the Big Red (3-3, 1-0) were quick to jump on the board. Cornell's Kate Thompson got her team going with a goal only 3:34 into the game.
The rest of the first half was an uphill battle for the Quakers to regain composure and find their style of play.
However, the Red and Blue came out in the second half with renewed energy, and found a spark from an unlikely source. Egan entered the game as a substitute, giving her elder forwards a much-needed rest. In the 57th minute, she scored off of her own rebound to put her team on the board.
"That goal gave us the stimulus to play even that much harder," Cloud said.
Things were looking up for the Quakers. Nine minutes later, though, their chances were all but over.
Cornell's Catie De Stio scored her team's third goal, and her first of the season, to provide insurance and essentially seal the victory for Cornell.
"Once Cornell got their third goal, that kind of did us in," Cloud said.
Even though the Quakers' offense did show signs of life in the second half, it couldn't manage to find the net.
In unhappy and all-too-familiar fashion for the Quakers, they increased their offense, but it was too little, too late.
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