The Penn women’s lacrosse team made sure that the third time was not the charm for Boston University.
For the third time in the last four seasons, the Quakers defeated the Terriers in the NCAA Tournament, winning, 14-9, at Immaculata University today in Malvern, PA in the first round of the tournament. They did not play at Franklin Field due to the upcoming graduation festivities.
“It’s sometimes hard to play a team that you’ve beaten […] and we really talked about this week,” coach Karin Corbett said. “But they really did come to play and I was really happy about that.”
Showing no signs of apathy, the senior co-captain and Tewaarton Trophy finalist Ali DeLuca opened the game with a her 41st goal of the season, which was soon followed up by a goal from classmate, Emma Spiro. BU’s leading scorer, Traci Landy was quick to retaliate, as she received a pass from McKinely Curro to put the Terriers (11-9) on the board.
The Quakers (15-3, 7-0 Ivy) did not let up and soon netted five unanswered goals to put them ahead, 7-1. The Penn attack continued to execute in fine form and finished the half ahead of the Terriers, 11-3.
“The first half it really all came together and that’s when the opportunities show,” DeLuca said.
BU, however, would not go down without a fight. In the second half, the Terriers fought for every 50-50 ball, grabbing six draw controls and nine ground balls, as opposed to Penn’s four draws and six ground balls.
BU also outshot the Quakers by an astounding margin of 20-6 in the second period and went on to score twice as many goals as it did in the first. While Penn’s offense was unable to find the net, goalkeeper Emily Szelest had a phenomenal half in the cage.
“I was happy to be able to compensate for some areas of the team today. It felt good. It felt real good,” she said. “At certain moments it feels like something just takes over your body and you just get into a zone and have fun.”
Szelest recorded a career high 18 saves — her previous high was 12 in 2009 — due in large part to her incredible second half play.
It was “Kinda night and day first and second half, but luckily we played so well in the first half that we had a cushion and were able to hold onto that lead,” Corbett said.
The Quakers will face No. 1 seeded Maryland in the tournament quarterfinals next weekend. In order to move onto the semi-finals, Penn must defeat the Terrapins, who handed the Quakers’ one of only three losses this season.
