The third time was not a charm for the Quakers.
For the third straight season, the Penn field hockey team suffered a shutout defeat to intrastate rival, Lafayette.
In addition, the Quakers’ 3-0 loss last night in Easton, Pa., marks their fourth consecutive scoreless game of the season.
For coach Colleen Quinn Fink, that failure to score stems from Penn’s inability to generate considerable offense.
“You can’t win if you don’t shoot,” the first-year coach said. “You can’t score if you don’t shoot.”
But shooting was hardly a problem for the Leopards (3-5). Though Penn goalkeeper Kieran Sweeney earned five saves on the night, the Lafayette offense wore her down, outshooting Penn, 13-4.
Senior midfielder Cara Lyons led the Leopards’ offense and carried her team to victory over the Quakers (1-6, 0-2 Ivy)last night, as she had a hand in each of Lafayette’s three goals.
Lyons was the first member of the Leopards offense to close in on the cage.
In the 23rd minute of play, the forward took a shot on goal. The ball rebounded off of Sweeney’s pads and was scooped up by sophomore Deanna DiCroce, who put Lafayette on the board.
Just over ten minutes later, Lyons scored off of a penalty corner, with an assist from teammate Meghan Cicchi.
And on yet another penalty corner after halftime, Lyons found the cage once again.
“We just have to do a better job of taking advantage of our scoring opportunities and having those opportunities result in goals and shooting,” Fink said.
The Quakers’ few shots on goal came from freshman Julia Tahan, who had a team-high three shots, and sophomore Sarah Hasson, who recorded one shot on the night.
According to Fink, in order to improve their shooting percentage for Saturday’s Ivy League matchup against Dartmouth, the Quakers will be taking the extra time to work on shooting from all angles of the field.
“We’re trying to … get them more reps on a daily basis so they are more comfortable shooting under pressure,” Fink said.
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