Both Penn women’s soccer and Dartmouth women’s soccer wanted to claim their fifth consecutive win of the season. Unfortunately for Penn, Dartmouth came out on top.
The Red and Blue (5-4-1, 0-1 Ivy) faced the Big Green (7-1-2, 1-0) in its Ivy opener, getting shut out by the Big Green 4-0.
It didn’t take long for the Big Green to put the Quakers in a deficit. In the third minute of the game, Dartmouth defender Anna Leschly sent one down the pitch to Dartmouth forward Emmanuella Frimpomaa who, in two touches, passed it to fellow Big Green forward Madison Rose for the first goal of the game.
Penn attempted to tie it up in the eighth minute with a shot from senior midfielder Avery Chapel, though the goal missed high left. Penn struggled to get any kind of offense going, with this being their first of just two total shots taken in the first period. Much of Penn’s offensive struggles can be credited to the Dartmouth backline led by Leschly, who didn’t allow the Red and Blue to get a single shot on target in the first.
Even though Dartmouth attempted just one more shot than Penn in the first period, the difference in precision could not have been greater.
In the 21st minute, Rose lofted the ball down to Big Green midfielder Lykke Ihrfelt just in front of the Penn goal zone. Swarmed by two Quakers, Ihrfelt headed the ball to Dartmouth forward Maeve Theobald, who snuck one just past Penn senior goalkeeper Megan Graves to make the deficit 2-0.
Although the Red and Blue didn’t allow Dartmouth to take too many shots in the first, the Big Green proved to be just too efficient in picking their spots. They ended the half with two goals on three shots, all of which were on target.
After a first half where the Quakers allowed more goals than they had in the previous four games combined and kicked just two off-target shots, Penn came into the second much more aggressively.
In the 54th minute, Chapel tried her hand at another shot just inside the penalty box before it was blocked by a Dartmouth defender. Though her attempt was thwarted, it set the tone for a more aggressive display on offense in the second half. In the following 11 minutes, the Quakers would attempt three more shots, with two of them being on target.
Unfortunately, in the 60th minute, the Big Green were able to find the back of the net yet again. After Dartmouth midfielder Addison Ball kicked a rocket up the pitch, the ball found itself at Theobald’s cleats. The forward broke down two Penn defenders to face Graves one-on-one before sending a right-footed missile to the low center of the goal.
The Quakers continued to apply pressure on the Dartmouth defense in the second period, totaling seven shots with four of them being on target; however, the Red and Blue couldn’t finish on any of their opportunities.
A goal by Leschly in the 68th minute was the nail in the coffin, putting the Quakers in a 4-0 hole. Ultimately, Penn couldn’t stop the Big Green’s efficient offensive onslaught, allowing them to score four goals on eight shots without a response.
The Quakers will look to return to their winning ways on Oct. 3, when they face the Brown Bears at Rhodes Field.
