Following Wednesday night’s contest, long after Georgetown had broken its post-game huddle, the Penn women’s lacrosse team still sat, listening to coach Karin Brower Corbett.
Her message: Clean up the sloppy play.
While the final score was an 11-9 Hoyas victory, the most important number of the night was 17, the amount of turnovers the Red and Blue committed.
“We were sloppier, sloppier than we’ve been in a while,” Corbett said. “It’s being careless with our thoughts.”
The turnovers weren’t the only mental lapses Penn (4-2) made against Georgetown (4-3).
Hoyas junior Sophia Thomas tore apart the Red and Blue for six goals, a few of which came on fast breaks right off of the draw.
“When you have five girls back on defense, that just shouldn’t happen,” Corbett said.
In addition to those easy goals, the Hoyas also scored twice on free positions, which, in a well-played defensive contest, can make all the difference.
“We definitely didn’t play team defense tonight,” junior Meredith Cain said.
The Quakers committed 22 fouls, including 15 in the second half, and had trouble getting Georgetown out of Penn’s zone on most possessions.
Despite the poor play, with two minutes remaining the Quakers were down by two, and sophomore Courtney Tomchik had a free position opportunity. Her shot was blocked by keeper Barb Black, who had six saves on the night.
The Red and Blue stayed in the game thanks to a strong offensive performance from Cain, who scored four goals to tie her career high.
“Erin Brennan and the rest of the attack were doing a great job feeding me the ball,” Cain said. “I had been having trouble seeing the net the last couple weeks, so I tried to focus on putting it away tonight.”
Junior Maddie Poplawski continued her scoring tear, netting two goals.
Though the offense came together in the second half, the Quakers couldn’t stay focused enough to finish their comeback.
“In the second half, we moved well, we created opportunities and we finished,” Corbett said. “But there were still a few key moments down the stretch where we got down there and we turned the ball over.”
While the Quakers fell prey to mental mistakes, Cain believes that type of play is not representative of the team on the whole.
“We just need to be more aware of who’s around us,” Cain said. “It’s an easy fix.”
Otherwise, the alternative is grim.
“If we continue playing like we did tonight, it’s going to be a long season,” Corbett said.
