The women’s lacrosse team’s loss to Johns Hopkins — its first to an unranked opponent in five years — could be considered a major letdown.
Yet senior defense Lily Posner called the Quakers’ first loss “really important” to their season.
“It’s kind of a deciding moment, so how we come back from it is really important,” Posner explained.
The first step of the bounce-back process comes Sunday at Cornell (3-4, 1-1 Ivy). Despite last year’s 15-6 final score against the Big Red, the Quakers didn’t take control until midway through the second half. They scored nine goals to close out the game but hadn’t held a lead of more than two before that point.
The Red and Blue (6-1, 2-0) have struggled to score early all season, and they continue to look for ways to improve their offense.
Penn enters the weekend ranked seventh in the league in goals per game at 8.57, just behind Cornell’s 8.86.
“The shots that we were taking [at Johns Hopkins] weren’t exactly the opportunities that we wanted, so we’ve been talking about really finishing and scoring the goals,” sophomore midfield Maddie Poplawski said.
Posner added that the goals the team sets before the game will play a big part in its ability to get ahead early, and playing a full 60 minutes is at the top of the list.
Posner and Poplawski both emphasized that the mistakes in their loss are absolutely “fixable.”
“A lot of the mistakes we made against Hopkins were a result of not being there for your teammates,” Posner said. Her personal goal this weekend is to be a leader on defense and make sure she supports her teammates.
“Once we fix those things, we’re going to be ready,” Poplawski said.
Posner leads the Penn defense, ranked first in the league with a goals against average of 6.29.
But the team will have its hands full with Cornell junior attack Jessi Steinberg, a unanimous first-team All-Ivy selection last season.
Steinberg is first in the league in shots per game with 7.43 and is tied for fifth in goals per game at 2.57, ahead of any Penn player.
“She’s been a threat every year, and she’s a leader on their team,” Posner said.
Ultimately, however, the game will come down to how Penn rebounds from its loss as it strives for its 32nd consecutive Ivy win.
Poplawski said that every Penn player is a naturally competitive person and that losses really get under their skin.
“There’s a fire in you that you want to come back and win,” she said. “Adversity is a good test. We’ve been doing well, and we’ve had a setback, but we can’t let it ruin our whole season.”
