Penn field hockey played Dartmouth on Oct. 11 in Hanover.
Credit: Weining DingThe tide is shifting.
Penn women's field hockey shut out Dartmouth 3-0 in Hanover in a key game for the Ivy League standings. Prior to this game, Penn (3-8, 2-2 Ivy) had been in a four-way tie with Yale, Columbia, and Cornell for fourth place. But the win moves Penn ahead in the standings and gives it the opportunity to punch its ticket for the tournament.
A takeaway from Penn led to the first score of the afternoon. Junior forward Livia Loozen got the ball and put Dartmouth (2-8, 0-4) goalie Isabel Andrews on skates. Andrews jumped off the line to challenge Loozen, but Loozen swerved around Andrews’ right side. Andrews fell to the turf as Loozen scored to put Penn up 1-0 and score her first goal of the season.
“Prior to today there were some challenges with finding the back of the goal,” coach Colleen Fink said. “The goal is that this game has changed the tide.”
While the Big Green had a few opportunities early in the second quarter, the Quakers' defense stopped them every chance they had. By the end of the first 30 minutes of play, the Big Green only had one shot attempt while the Quakers had six.
“We have been working really hard on our attacking mobility to not just create goal scoring opportunities but higher quality opportunities,” Fink said. “We have also been working on our rebounding shape and positioning framing the goal.”
In the second quarter, an errant pass from midfield by Dartmouth rolled through the scoring circle without contention. Andrews let the ball roll by her, as the ball was fired off way beyond the scoring circle’s range. But senior midfielder Sophie Freedman saw an opportunity. Freedman chased the ball down to try to get her stick on it so that the pass would qualify as a shot on goal. During the chase, Andrews put her arms around Freedman to keep her away from the ball. She was promptly sent out of the game with a yellow card for a few minutes.
“Dartmouth doesn’t have video referral so unfortunately the officials had to make a call in real time,” Fink said. “We felt it should have been a stroke or a corner potentially, but it’s a tough call to make in real time.”
With the score 1-0 going into the third quarter, Penn kept their foot on the gas to try to score another goal. Senior midfielder/defender Kylie Wall — in a quest to get the goal in — got in a face-off against a defender. But she proved the Big Green was too small and sent her defender to the turf. Sophomore defender Ellie Almeida had a similar play, sending yet another Big Green to the ground that afternoon.
While none of the highlight reel plays ended in a goal, the Quakers did net a goal in the third quarter to take a 2-0 lead. Freedman, with a defender on her back, quickly netted a goal on the side off a tough angle that slid past Andrews as she dropped to the splits to try to block it.
Freedman added to her point total that afternoon later in the fourth quarter. At the start of the penalty corner, Freedman touched the ball back to freshman defender Beau Lilly Barrington-Hibbert, who launched it in at the top of the scoring circle to balloon the lead to 3-0.
The game was a strong showing for the Quakers. Their defense kept the Big Green to only three shots the entire evening, proving their defense is tightening up as they continue into the Ivy League gauntlet. On the offensive end, they converted three of their 14 shots of the day — six of which were on goal — into goals.
They also limited turnovers on the afternoon. Penn had only one green card called against it. In their past three conference games, the Red and Blue have totaled 11 green cards and two yellow cards. This helped to limit possession opportunities for Dartmouth.
“The big lesson of the season so far is to stay the course. To maintain belief in the team and in one another and ourselves. The team has been playing extremely well and been competing at a high level,” Fink said.
Penn will start a four-game home stand at Ellen Vagelos Field next week with a matchup against Cornell on Oct. 19.
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