W. Lax | Slow and steady wins the Ivies

Although they missed Spring Fling on Friday and Saturday, the Penn women's lacrosse team still had a weekend to remember in Providence, R.I.

With their 14-4 win over Brown Saturday, the Quakers are officially the Ivy League Champions.

Saturday's win clinched the title outright for the undefeated Red and Blue (13-0, 7-0 Ivy). They had already clinched the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament with their win over Princeton Wednesday.

"A lot of teams don't take the Ivy League seriously," sophomore midfield Giulia Giordano said, "[but] wining it outright just proves that we deserve a trip to the NCAA tournament."

Penn didn't just waltz away with the match - at least in the first half. The Bears fought to gain and keep possession for the entire game, even if it meant not going to goal. Ironically, the Quakers' defense was forced to pressure the Bears (6-7, 2-3) into taking shots.

"We didn't want to foul them," Penn coach Karin Brower said. "Our kids were playing too good a defense."

In order to stall offensively, the Bears remained in the corners of the field. According to junior Courtney Lubbe, Brown could not get close enough to the cage to take a shot. The Bears were selective with their shooting so as to not turn the ball over - they scored on two of only three shots in the first half.

With Brown dominating time of possession, the Quakers were unable to put goals up on the board. The offense only took nine shots in the first half, many of which went wide.

It wasn't until about 24 minutes into the half when junior midfield Ali DeLuca managed to put the ball in the net. Despite DeLuca's efforts, the Quakers ended the half down 2-1.

"Since it was so low scoring and we couldn't get it in the net, it was a problem for us," freshman midfield Erin Brennan said.

In the second half, the Quakers found a way to overcome the Bears' gameplan. The Red and Blue grabbed nine draw controls in the second half, as opposed to only two in the first.

"All different people were coming up with it," Brower said. "The draw has a lot to do with heart and fighting for it."

Finally gaining possession, Penn's offense was able to do what it does best, breaking away and scoring 13 goals. Lubbe netted a goal just three minutes into the half and went on to score two more before time expired.

The Bears began the half pressuring Penn behind the cage, making it easy for the offense to score assisted goals.

"Our offense got into a good flow and it was easy to find the open girl," said Giordano, who netted two goals herself after the break.

The well-balanced Quakers attack was in fine form with 14 goals coming from eight players (even if it took them the first half to wake up). Brown's defense committed 20 fouls in the half, which allowed the Red and Blue to score on four of their five free position shots.

"We are psyched," Brower said, "We won the champion outright which is not an easy thing to do."

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