Miller’s strike Penn's women's soccer in OT

When Penn women’s soccer faced Old Dominion last year, it played a gritty 110 minutes, clawing back from a two goal deficit to end the match in a 2-2 draw.

But when the Quakers stared down the same opponent for its home opener on Sunday, they had one thing in mind: to win.

And they did just that. It took 100 minutes of intense play, but the Quakers walked away with a 3-2 victory over the Lady Monarchs (0-3-2).

After the first half at Rhodes Field, Penn (2-0) was experiencing a mild case of deja vu. Old Dominion was up 2-0 after goals by Grace Haverly and Madison Hogan within the first 20 minutes.

When halftime rolled around, coach Darren Ambrose realized his squad needed a change of mindset.

“At halftime I didn’t mince my words,” he said. “There weren’t a lot of X’s and O’s.”

Ambrose’s words had a clear impact on his team; when it emerged from the locker room, there was a different energy on the field.

The Quakers clawed back with an unassisted goal from 25 yards out by sophomore midfielder Lindsay Sawczuk and a well-placed throw from Jill Kennedy that was tapped into the net by freshman forward Anna Estep in the 76th minute.

Neither team was able to muscle ahead in the remaining 14 minutes of regulation play. The competition came down to which team was willing to go the extra mile, said freshman forward Kristen Miller.

“It was a matter of wanting it and who would be willing to make the tackle, who was committed to getting in the box on the counterattack,” she said.

Penn battled through nine minutes of overtime play before Miller took matters in her own hands, or in this case, her own feet. With just 12 seconds left in the period, Miller got control of a rebounding missed shot and volleyed the ball over the hands of Lady Monarch goalkeeper Meredith Lenox, securing a win for the Red and Blue in the process.

“It was awesome,” the freshman said of her first collegiate goal.

Ambrose was particularly impressed with Miller’s tenacity on the field.

“She just never stops,” he said. “She is just such a competitor.”

Penn’s win against Old Dominion was the team’s second of the weekend, after taking down winless Mount St. Mary 1-0 on Friday. Penn quickly got control of the match after an own goal early in the first half. Though no one on Penn’s roster managed to find the back of the net, the Quakers out-shot the Mount, 18-1.

Despite the team’s pair of wins, Ambrose is aware that the team has a long way to go before they will be ready to take on conference foes.

“I just don’t think we’re sharp on the ball yet,” he said. “At any one time [on the field], there are four freshman, there are two or three sophomores who didn’t start a game last year.”

So far, Ambrose has been pleased with how the younger players have elevated their game.

“You don’t really recognize [Lindsay Sawczuk] a lot of the time, but she kind of guts it out and does some very subtle things,” he says. “And [freshman forward] Natasha Davenport is a fireplug.”

Within the Quakers’ 100 minutes against Old Dominion, there were undoubtedly flashes of brilliance. But it is early in the season, and championship-winning teams are not forged in a mere two games. As Ambrose knows, this team has a lot left to learn.

“The learning is how to compete,” he says. “And the only way you learn how to compete is getting games like that.”

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