Penn women’s soccer had yet to lose a game when the team went up against St. Joseph’s on Sept. 11. Last week, the Quakers continued their hot streak against their Philadelphia rival, but Villanova got the best of the Red and Blue on Sunday — marking the Quakers’ first loss of the season.
The Quakers’ season was off to a running start compared to previous years, and a dominant 2-1 win against the Hawks (3-4-1) was continued proof of that.
Though it was a game peppered with yellow cards and started by a first goal by the Hawks within seconds of the game’s commencement, the Quakers (4-1-2) managed to keep calm and control the game’s pace and intensity. An early-game goal from St. Joe’s turned out to be its only one of the match, though it was not the only one its team attempted. The Hawks made 12 shot attempts — seven of which were on goal — but Quakers junior goalkeeper Megan Graves made six saves, her career best.
But Penn’s next game against Villanova (5-3) on Sept. 14 would prove to be its hardest challenge yet.
“I think Villanova is probably the most talented team that we faced so far this season, so we knew that it was going to be a tough game,” Penn women’s soccer coach Krissy Turner said.
Although Penn would end up losing 3-1, the game was not without its shining moments. Graves once again would keep the Quakers in competition at the start of the match. Villanova held possession for most of the first period, and with the Wildcats’ 12 shot attempts compared to Penn’s five, Graves protected the goal on multiple occasions. This included a free kick by Villanova defender Olivia Neal, who made a strong strike to the bottom right of the net that Graves pushed away. Graves and the defensive line were an iron wall that frustrated Villanova’s multiple attempts to score.
Otherwise, the undefeated team didn’t look like itself. The offense, when it did get possession of the ball, could not seem to keep it. The defense kicked the ball out to the right side of the field and tried to push it toward the Wildcats’ goal — only for the offense to get clogged toward the center and be unable to generate any good looks; this created weak shot attempts that fell too easily into Villanova goalkeeper Hannah Dickinson’s waiting hands.
Eventually, Villanova forward Avrie Nelsen made a tricky diagonal shot that Graves got a touch on but couldn’t stop — the ball floated into the goal to give the Wildcats the upper edge. But Penn’s offense woke up for a brief second with a goal of its own less than a minute later. Senior midfielder Mallory Lucas had dribbled the ball to the upper left corner of the penalty box before kicking it across towards the upper right corner of the goal box, where junior forward Mia Fuss came running to push the ball into the net.
But Fuss’ goal wasn’t enough, as Villanova responded with two quick goals in succession around 10 minutes before halftime. Graves had saved four shots before, but these two quick scores came in the midst of confusion and chaos, with the Quakers seeming disorganized and unprepared.
“[Graves] did a fantastic job, and it’s unfortunate that we gave up three goals in the span of six minutes and 32 seconds, which needs to be a much higher level of focus in those moments,” Turner said.
Going into the second half, Turner emphasized the need to “play a little bit faster,” which the team did as it “had less touches on the ball, [but] we moved it faster, which I think created some issues for [Villanova].”
Fuss echoed a similar change of mindset entering the second half.
“We weren’t really playing our style the first half. … But I think in the second half, we were able to get the ball forward because we were really focused [on] switching the ball and keeping it on the ground more than lobbing it,” Fuss said.
Though the Red and Blue weren’t able to get any more goals, they did reclaim their style of play, which showed in their 10 shot attempts compared to Villanova’s four in the second half. Penn succeeded in stopping the Wildcats’ frenzied run at the end of the first half, and their faster pace was an improvement. But Turner sees more ways to improve as the team begin Ivy play this Friday against Princeton.
“It looks like we had 15 [shot attempts] but only four on frame, so that’s not enough. You know, that percentage needs to be closer to 50%,” Turner said.
Taking the lesson from the game against Villanova, Fuss emphasized the importance of focusing on sticking to their identity from the onset.
“We’re going to hold it all 90 minutes, and we’re all really excited for this Ivy season,” Fuss said. “I feel like we’re definitely more prepared now.”
The Quakers are set to defend Rhodes Field against Princeton on Friday to open Ivy play.
