After a months-long break, Penn women’s soccer was back in action, if only briefly.
On April 10, Penn women’s soccer wrapped up a slate of spring games with a 2-1 win over Maryland. The game, which was played in three sections of 30 minutes instead of the usual 45-minute halves, saw significant turnout from Penn students, parents, as well as both former and future players.
Although the collegiate soccer season takes place exclusively in fall, teams are allowed a total of three days of competition in the spring as they train for the upcoming season. How these days are used is up to the respective team, and this spring, Penn women’s soccer’s coaching staff chose to play three full matches. The Quakers collected three wins in their games against La Salle, Seton Hall, and Maryland, scoring two goals on each occasion.
“I think we had some really, really positive takeaways. I think we’ve shown a lot of growth from start to finish, and we’ve improved in a lot of ways, which I think has been a lot of fun,” coach Krissy Turner said.
Friday’s game saw Penn’s toughest opponent of the spring in Big Ten team Maryland. The game went down to the wire, with freshman midfielder Lauren Stevens scoring the winning goal with under a minute of game time remaining. The win confirmed a convincing performance by the Quakers, who spent much of the game in possession and in control.
Putting the “team” into “team sport”
Against Maryland, it was clear that Penn had been training together for weeks. Its play was cohesive and strategic. Every player knew where to find their teammates with only a few misplaced passes. The Red and Blue looked very comfortable when in possession, using many short passes in their build-up to relieve Maryland’s consistent pressure.
Penn’s first goal, which came with around 13 minutes left in the last third of the game, showcased the Quakers’ unselfish game as a team. A long pass was sent across the field to sophomore forward Hailey Adamsky, whose speed put her one-on-one against Maryland’s goalkeeper. She faked out the goalkeeper, but instead of attempting a shot of her own at the goal, she passed the ball to junior forward Magalí Capdevila, who had made a run right in front of the open goal and converted her shot to give Penn the lead.
“One of the most important things is to keep that [cohesion],” Turner said. “And I think when we do that, that’s only going to allow us to be better.”
Competing until the last seconds
After only allowing one shot on goal in their previous game against Seton Hall, the Red and Blue displayed a strong defensive performance against Maryland. The competitive spirit of the team was noticeable, with players never settling when out of possession and instead constantly fighting to win back the ball. This often paid off, allowing Penn to attempt varying attacks, although many of the attempts lacked the decisiveness to lead to a direct shot at goal.
Although neither of the goalkeepers saw much action for most of the game, Penn’s junior goalkeeper Megan Graves — who saw a move into a starting role come fall due to senior goalkeeper Annabel Austen’s departure — was ready when called upon. One of the game’s highlights came with just minutes left in the second third, when she flew through the air to tip a shot over the crossbar.
After trading goals with the Terrapins in the last third, the Quakers were not willing to settle for a tie, continuing to push for a goal. Their efforts paid off, and Stevens’ last-minute goal was celebrated by her teammates on the field and the sidelines and the fans in the stands.
“When you have camaraderie and you have togetherness, it’s going to lead to results. We could have put our heads down and stopped playing, but there was four minutes left, and we got the goal to win the game, which is amazing,” Turner said.
Penn leaves off on a positive note after its spring success, but much will have changed come the beginning of the season in August, with a new class of freshman looking to leave their mark on Rhodes Field.
