At the end of the first half of last night’s game against University of Maryland-Baltimore County, the Penn women’s soccer team was in a scoreless deadlock despite clearly dominating an opponent that had been outscored in its last four games by a 15-0 margin.
But the Quakers netted three goals in the second half to shut out the Retrievers 3-0 and to ensure that they would not be leaving Baltimore without their first road win of the season.
A failure to notch a victory against the winless Retrievers after losing 3-2 to Harvard would be a severe blow to Penn’s momentum heading into the remainder of the Ivy season and would put the Quaker’s postseason hopes in peril.
So, was coach Darren Ambrose nervous heading into the second half of play? Not at all.
“I told the girls at halftime that we haven’t scored but we played very well,” the 10th-year coach said. “Don’t change the way you are playing, but change your focus in the 18-yard box and the goals will come.”
And his players certainly responded, as all three goals came within the first 30 minutes of the second half.
“Our kids are naturally competitive people,” Ambrose said. “They wanted to get a win under their belts and address the things we wanted to address. We created a lot of chances and had a great game. “
The Quakers (4-2-2) started their scoring in the 50th minute when senior Jess Fuccello rebounded a Megan Cassidy shot that ricocheted off the UMBC goalkeeper’s hands. The goal was her Ivy League-leading 10th goal of the season and the 30th of her career.
But the Quakers weren’t finished, as sophomore Marin McDermott added two more goals to put the game out of reach.
“Marin had three or four chances early on that she didn’t score but she continued to fight and didn’t let it get to her,” Ambrose said. “She kept battling through.”
McDermott’s second goal came off of a cross from freshman Alex Dayneka — her third assist of the season.
“Alex Daneka placed a great ball across with her left foot and Marin was in the right spot,” Ambrose said. “The midfield did a great job of delivering the ball and the forwards did a great job of getting behind their back four.”
On the defensive end, the Quakers clamped down, holding the Retrievers (0-8-1) to only four shots, compared to Penn’s 28.
“I thought that we worked really well — not only our back line but our whole team did very well pressuring them and not letting them score any goals,” junior midfielder Marisa Schoen said.
The win against UMBC eliminated any concern about the team’s ability to rebound after a loss to a weaker Harvard team Sunday.
“We definitely picked it up,” McDermott said.
