Looks like the Penn women's soccer team has finally gotten opposing defenses to - ahem - "open up."
The Quakers' drive back from the nation's capital may have been accompanied by thoughts of their failure to bring home a win. But head Coach Darren Ambrose and his players certainly have made some offensive breakthroughs this weekend - right through some of the toughest defenses on Penn's schedule.
Their road trip began in Richmond against the 6-1-1 Spiders, who have only allowed one goal in the last four games and just six all season.
Richmond's wild style of play kept the Quakers on their toes for the entire 90 minutes. Just like in their 2007 match, regulation time expired with a tie, 0-0, sending the game into two overtimes to settle the score.
This time, however, it was not a Quakers player who hit the penalty kick for the dramatic win. Richmond's Sarah Hilt converted the only goal of the game to hand the Spiders the victory.
"They won ugly," Ambrose said after the game. "Ninety percent of those shots came from 20 yards away. They weren't threatening us all the time . I think we were a little disappointed in how we played."
Contributing to Penn's offensive stagnancy was a turf surface that did not sit well with the players.
"[Richmond's turf] wasn't nice like Franklin Field's, and it affected the play," Ambrose said.
The Quakers saved the style for yesterday's match against the Hoyas (6-0-2), as Penn opened up with two fleet-footed goals against a defense that had allowed only two goals in their first seven games.
Freshman standout Marin McDermott put Penn on the board in the sixth minute with a beautiful goal from the far left, taking advantage of a great setup from senior Molly Weir and sophomore Sarah Friedman.
In the 33rd minute, Friedman followed up on her earlier showing by sending the ball neatly in the Hoya goal for a 2-0 lead.
In one game, Penn matched the number of goals that Georgetown had allowed all season. But the 77th minute saw a turnaround, as the opponent rallied with two quick, successive goals, the last off a penalty kick for a handball.
Ambrose found it hard to complain, however.
"[Georgetown is] a very, very good team, but to be fair, I thought anyone who saw the game would think that we were the better team," he said.
And his challenge to the team to keep up the tempo for the entire match was answered.
"We played a little longer. Against Villanova, we were only good for about 55 minutes against them. We were good for 70 minutes against Georgetown. [We'll] soon be good for 90 minutes - and that's all we'll need against [this weekend's] Harvard."
*This article was corrected at 2 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 24. The headline erroneously stated that Penn had two losses. The Quakers won one game, and tied the other.
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