The Penn women’s lacrosse team has such a strong defense that it is rare for goalie Emily Szelest to be constantly be in the middle of the action.
But last night, against a fast Johns Hopkins offense that entered the matchup averaging 13.5 goals per game, Szelest’s 11 saves helped hold the Blue Jays to a season-low seven goals in an 11-7 Penn victory at Franklin Field.
“They’re a team that comes in hard, and they shoot a lot. Sometimes they force it,” said Szelest, a senior who fell one save shy of her career high. “Our defense did a really good job holding them off for a large part of the game.”
The Quakers had dropped to the middle of the Division I pack in scoring output, but they did not take long to strike against Johns Hopkins.
Emma Spiro scored just over one minute into the contest, and Johns Hopkins coach Janine Tucker was forced to call a timeout 14 minutes later when an Erin Brennan goal expanded the lead to 4-1.
By halftime, Penn’s lead was 8-2, but Johns Hopkins used defensive adjustments and team speed to control the pace in the second half. The Blue Jays extended their ball pressure and double-teams, which led to some sloppy passes and turnovers in transition.
“They upped the tempo on us, and we got caught in it rather than slowing it down,” Penn coach Karin Brower Corbett said. “I think when a team is going at you like that, you need to be composed.”
Senior Ali DeLuca said that the second-half problems were more about inconsistency in
execution than a systemic issue with handling ball pressure.“I think every attack on our team likes when they pressure out, because I think we’re very fast and can read those doubles and hit the next girl,” DeLuca said. “I think that’s what our bread and butter is.”
On the other end, the Blue Jays scored three straight goals to cut the lead to 9-5 with 11:14 to play. It was the closest they would get to the Quakers squad.
As usual, Penn relied on a balanced attack. Five players — DeLuca, Brennan, Maddie Poplawski, Giulia Giordano and Bridget Waclawik — netted two goals apiece.
In a scary moment for her team, DeLuca injured her leg in the second half and stayed down for about 15 seconds. But she recovered to score an unassisted goal with less than five minutes left that put the game out of reach.
“It’s just a little sore,” DeLuca said, “but nothing that ice can’t handle.”
While Corbett was displeased by the team’s continued inconsistency with crisp ball movement in transition, she was happy with yet another strong effort from one of the nation’s best defensive units.
Corbett said that two of Hopkins’ goals were the result of defensive breakdowns, but Szelest made up for some by saving several Blue Jays’ breakaways.
“You can definitely see the progression of our defense from our first couple games,” Szelest said. “I really think that we’re clicking.”
