The first 35 minutes of the Penn field hockey team's match with Yale belonged to Ashley McCauley. The Bulldogs senior forward netted two early goals, but as the game progressed, Penn defender Sarah Warner adjusted.
"She got by me a couple times in the first half," Warner said. "By the second half, I was able to read what she was trying to do and ultimately stop her. It was really fun, and I think I frustrated her."
That was the theme for the Red and Blue: It took a rough first half to adapt to and finally defeat Yale, 3-2, in New Haven, Conn.
Senior midfielder Rachel Eng scored the game-winner with three minutes remaining on a reverse sweep, one of the most difficult field hockey maneuvers.
"It was so fast, and I wasn't sure what I was doing, but it went in," she said.
Eng was also involved in the Quakers' two earlier goals. Late in the first half, she found senior Margetha Ehret, who fired a shot from the circle past Yale goalkeeper Katie Bolling. And on a penalty corner after the break, Eng set up Kelsey Tahan's game-tying tally.
Penn came a long way from the opening period, when it was completely overmatched.
"Yale was so good that I called a timeout in the first 10 minutes to get my team straightened out," coach Val Cloud said. "We looked like we were out to lunch, to be honest with you. We were not up to snuff with them in the beginning of this game. We just had to pick it up and play harder together."
Despite the tale of two halves, players asserted that the game was relatively evenly played.
"It was a flip-flop game, a lot of back and forth possession," Ehret said.
Penn has now won three in a row, a remarkable turnaround after winning just two of its first 12 games. A conference championship is still nearly impossible - the Quakers would have to win their final two games and Princeton and Cornell would have to lose out - but the Red and Blue are at least keeping open minds.
"We just have to come out hard no matter what, because all of these Ivy games are up in the air," Warner said. "Anyone can be beaten at any day."
