For the Penn women’s soccer team, there is no such thing as an easy win. So far this season the team has been unable to settle games early and decisively — even against weaker teams.
That was especially the case this weekend when Penn beat Cornell and Army — two teams that they were expected to handle easily — each by just one goal, 2-1 and 1-0, respectively.
“We kind of coughed and sputtered through it,” coach Darren Ambrose said after the game against Cornell. “It’s something we are starting to figure out. We can fight, battle and give what we’ve got.”
Entering Friday’s matchup at Rhodes Field, Cornell (1-8-1, 0-2-0 Ivy) had not beaten Penn in 12 games and had not scored on the Quakers since 2003. Last year, Penn (6-2-2, 1-1-0) won 6-0 in Ithaca, N.Y. — its largest Ivy League win ever.
This made it all the more surprising when the Red and Blue found themselves down by a goal less than ten minutes into the game. The Big Red scored on a penalty kick,following a questionable call when a Cornell player was tripped in the penalty area.
“We were slow to start,” Coach Ambrose said. “I thought we looked confident coming out and we talked before the game. They had a great attitude but it didn’t translate into a performance.”
But in the 34th minute, Penn was awarded a penalty kick when a player from Cornell was whistled for a handball in the penalty area. Michelle Drugan converted the opportunity to a goal.
The Quakers had to wait until midway through the second half for the decisive goal by Marin McDermott.
“We tend to get down a goal and somehow we get a little bit of urgency and that seems to help us out,” Drugan said after the match. “We weren’t really worried about it. We knew we would come back.”
The game was marked by highly physical plays and controversial decisions from the referee. Overall, both teams were whistled for a combined 37 fouls, highlighted by three Cornell yellow cards in the second half.
“It was a very tight game and the referee was calling things both ways that weren’t fair,” McDermott said. “Our coach and the players stuck through them unlike the other coach. We kept our heads in the game and didn’t let them affect us.”
Yesterday, Penn followed up the victory with another close win over Army (5-5-2). Although the Quakers had eight more shots against the Black Knights, their only goal came when Jessica Fuccello capitalized on an Army goal kick that landed at her feet.
Despite their inability to pull away from either team, the Quakers believe they gained some momentum from their consecutive victories over the weekend.
“We are definitely going to use it to go into next weekend to Columbia and to win the Ivy League title,” McDermott said.
