There’s a reason why people say “it’s not over until it’s over.”
The Brown Bears (7-2-2, 1-0-1 Ivy) scored in the 87th minute to silence the home crowd and force Penn (5-4-2, 0-1-1) to accept a 2-2 draw in Philadelphia on Saturday night. The Quakers stayed undefeated at home, moving to 3-0-2. Senior forward Abbey Cook scored both of Penn’s goals, her third and fourth of the year — all of which have come at Rhodes Field.
“This is our field, and I think being able to be in our space and having our fans yelling so loud, it just brings a different type of energy,” Cook said. “It gets us really excited and hyped, and we play really well when we’re here.”
After last week’s shut-out loss to Dartmouth, the Quakers came into this match looking for their first conference win. The Bears, on the other hand, were rolling after not having lost game since August and shutting out the last two teams they faced.
Brown controlled the game early, dominating possession and forcing two corner kicks in four minutes. Freshman goalkeeper Josephine Hensley, appearing in her collegiate debut, prevented the Quakers from falling in another early hole with a diving save on Brown’s first shot. That save seemed to turn the momentum in Penn’s favor, leading to their first real pressure, but they were soon met with another hurdle — darkness, as the Rhodes Field lights went out.
“I was a little disappointed, because I thought we had a lot of momentum, so I was concerned that we might lose it,” coach Krissy Turner said of the 20-minute delay. “But I don’t think we did in any way.”
After the stoppage, the first half continued with back-and-forth play, with both goalies making a few solid stops. Brown ended the half with two more corner kicks in the final minute, but strong Quaker play in the box kept it scoreless.
Coming out of the break, Penn reversed the tide, pouring on offensive pressure with two shots on goal in the first seven minutes. However, it was Brown that got on the board first with a header from midfielder Brooke Birtwistle in the 57th minute, off Brown’s fifth corner kick of the game.
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The Quakers kicked into another gear after going down 1-0. A flurry of offense from Penn resulted in Brown’s shutout streak, as Cook scored on a 63rd-minute breakaway set up by a beautiful outlet pass from senior forward Magali Capdevila. The goal breathed new life into the Rhodes Field crowd and added further ignition to an already-hyped Quaker sideline.
“It really is like a 12th man on the field. It makes such a huge difference when you have everyone on your team backing you and yelling and screaming,” Cook said of her team’s lively sideline.
After Cook tied the game, Penn continued pouring on the attack. Over the ensuing 10 minutes, the Quakers barely left the offensive half of the field, racking up two corner kicks. On the second of those, a failed clearance from Brown created a scramble in front that knocked multiple players over and, after video review, resulted in Cook jamming home her second goal of the night. This marked the first multi-goal game of Cook’s career.
“I ended up on the ground and I knew I couldn’t kick it, so I just leaned in and headed it in the goal while I was on the ground,” Cook explained.
The Bears, trailing for the first time in nearly three weeks, weren’t going to go down without a fight. Brown renewed their push, forcing two corner kicks less than five minutes after Penn took the lead, but timely stops from Hensley kept the Quakers ahead. With less than five minutes to go, Brown’s late efforts started faltering, and it looked like the Red and Blue might hold on. Then, a Penn yellow card near midfield gave the Bears a long shot at the goal, which was right on target. Unfortunately for the Quakers, Hensley mistimed her jump and the ball sailed into the net, giving Brown the 87th-minute equalizer.
“It’s unfortunate that people will judge her … but I thought she had a really really solid game in her first start,” Turner said of her young goalkeeper.
One last push from Penn in the dying seconds was stymied by Brown, and both teams walked off the field with a lone standings point. The Quakers will try to notch their first Ivy win on Saturday, Oct. 10 when they travel to Princeton, N.J. to take on the Tigers.
“I think if we bring the same level of compete and energy [to Princeton], we’re gonna win. We just need to show up the way we showed up today,” Cook said.
