Soccer isn't often discussed on this blog, but recently College Soccer News released its top 40 incoming classes on the men's side. Penn came in at 36, as its five-member class is considered "a difference maker." The ranking was tops for the Ivy League, and only one of Penn's 2008 opponents made the list, as Villanova placed just two spots ahead of the Quakers at 34. The Wildcats visit Rhodes Field Wednesday Oct. 1.
The Quakers are coming off of a 6-9-2 (3-4-0 Ivy) season, which was a let down after the team went 9-4-2 in 2006, just missing an at-large berth to the NCAA tournament. So a strong incoming class is just what the Quakers could use this fall, especially after losing three starters to graduation.
Fortunately the two most-touted incoming freshmen, Christian Barreiro and Thomas Brandt, play midfielder and defender respectively, the two positions that Penn lost starters. Nick Unger, another incoming midfielder, is the brother of current Quaker midfielder Kevin who scored twice last year. The final two incoming freshmen are Eric Guo (midfield) and Jake Levin (defense).
Earlier this week St. Joseph's announced its men's basketball opponents, although no times or dates were released. Two things are worth noting for Quaker fans. First off, as you might remember from this DP article, all of the Hawks 2008-09 home games will be played at the Palestra. So there's a good chance college basketball's cathedral will be home to multiple games a day come winter.
But more importantly, a familiar foe of Penn will be visiting the Palesta twice this year. Cornell, yes the very same defending-Ivy League champions, will face St. Joe's at the Palestra. I'd personally be surprised if Penn coach Glen Miller isn't in attendance scouting the Big Red, assuming of course Penn doesn't have a game of its own that day.
So as for you Penn fans, are you going to try to watch the Big Red in the Palestra before they take on the Quakers? I wonder when was the last time a non-Big 5 team visited the Palestra during the regular season to play two different teams. I'm sure it's happened before.
NB: I found this news from former DP writer Jonnathan Tannenwald's college sports blog, Soft Pretzel Logic. I strongly suggest you check it out since it's clearly the best professional blog about college sports in the Philly region.
FINAL NORTHWESTERN 10 PENN 6
The game ends with Penn hanging onto the ball for the last six minutes of the game give or take. The dream season is over for the Quakers, but they are the second best team in the nation, still nothing to sneeze out.
NU meanwhile is now the four-time National Champion.
3:31 Penn 6 NU 10
Penn just can't get the ball. They had a great chance to do so, but they couldn't come up with the grounball. Instead Nielsen gets the ball, runs around the back of the net, gets hit on the head, yet keeps going and then scores the wrap around. That might clinch it for the Wildcats.
5:22 Penn 6 NU 9
Northwestern calls its last timeout. Can Penn comeback and win? Yes. Will they? It's not looking too good.
6:43 Penn 6 NU 9
Northwestern is just running out the clock it seems, and a timeout is called. The PA announcer says that tonight's attendance is 6,125, a new record for an NCAA championship game. In the press box someone just announced that Lanthrop's 11 saves are a season-high.
8:26 Penn 6 NU 9
One Penn shot sails high, and then another hits off the post. Those two might decide the game.
11:04 Penn 6 NU 9
A Penn goal is called off because of a foul called before the play. Too bad you can't decline the penalty. Lanthrop saves the ensuing penalty.
11:30 Penn 6 NU 9
Nielsen decides to do some scoring of her own, earning her second goal of the night off a Frank pass.
13:43 Penn 6 NU 8
Lanthrop makes her first mistake of the night. Going for a loose ball, she doesn't come up with possession, but guess who does? Penn's Rachel Manson. She shoots it into the empty net, and Penn's within two.
14:45 Penn 5 NU 8
Manson gets a great stick-check, then she draws a foul, drawing boos from the Northwestern fans. There's a media timeout, and Penn will get possession once the game get back under way. They really need to score here.
15:20 Penn 5 NU 8
Senior Melissa Lehman gets a free-position for Penn, but the high shot is saved by Lanthrop.
16:00 Penn 5 NU 8
Penn gets that stop.
17:11 Penn 5 NU 8
Penn turns it over after coming close to getting off a shot. A quick defensive stop is their top priority.
18:07 Penn 5 NU 8
DeLuca gets her second goal of the game.
20:21 Penn 4 NU 8
Kocis gets a bouncing goal that's unassisted.
20:52 Penn 3 NU 8
A media timeout is called, as Penn will have possession from behind the NU goal after the break. Penn hasn't done any of the things I said it had to do to win. Things just aren't looking too good.
22:36 Penn 3 NU 8
Before I can even finish writing the previous entry, Kristin Finch scores her second goal of the year for NU. This is Penn's largest deficit faced all year. They trailed by four twice before this game. Penn coach Karin Brower calls her team's first timeout.
22:57 Penn 3 NU 7
The nearly-unstoppable combination of Nielsen to Bowen strikes yet again, as Bowen earns the hat trick off yet another bouncing shot. Four goals is going to be a tough margin to overcome with the lack of defensive stops.
24:08 Penn 3 NU 6
Bowen shoots low and Waxman can't get a save. It's the Rochester, N.Y. native's 80th goal of the year. The Wildcats refuse to let the Quakers get within one.
25:25 Penn 3 NU 5
Spiro earns a free-position shot and then scores in the top right corner.
26:08 Penn 2 NU 5
Another save by Lanthrop. She's got my theoretical vote for MVP.
27:27 Penn 2 NU 5
A crease violation is called against NU, waving off a goal. Penn then does get a clear. About time.
28:40 Penn 2 NU 5
Bowen gets called with a charge, yet Penn can't get the clear. Uh oh
Halftime Penn 2 NU 5
At least it's not as bad as it was last year. In last year's Final Four matchup Penn trailed 8-0 at the half. Well today they're down only 5-2, and in fact they trailed the Wildcats back on April 27 when Penn eventually won. However, they were only down two at 7-5, and in fact had scored the last goal of the half. Tonight, however, Northwestern is the one with momentum at the break. Lanthrop's save at the buzzer was critical, as it clearly gave the Wildcats some momentum.
Looking at the stat sheet, Northwestern isn't quite as dominant as I had thought. Although they are dominating two key stats (they lead in shots 13-7 and draw controls 5-3), they have only one more groundball (7-6), and have equaled Penn in saves (5) and clears (5-7). Furthermore, they have more fouls than Penn (7-5), more turnovers (9-7) and a worse free-position shot percentage (0-1 vs 1-3). Yet the one area that they're dominating in is time of possession. Unfortunately the NCAA does not track that stat, but I'd venture a guess that Penn has only had the ball for seven minutes out of the first 30.
What must Penn do to win? It's pretty clear: They must win the draws and keep hammering in shots against Lanthrop. So far the junior goalkeeper has been pretty dominant, but she did give up 11 goals to Penn the first time the two teams played. And on the defensive end, Penn must be consistent at getting clears. Yes they were 5-7 in the first, but both of those bothced clears led to goals. Take those two off the board, and this game clearly could be Penn's.
That said, Penn can't give up all hope. In all of Penn's close games they seem to have a poor half a great one. Considering against NU the first time they were outscored 7-5 in the first, then blanketed the Wildcats 6-0 in the second, Penn clearly could come out here and win (though I doubt they'll shut out the Wildcats). That said, winning still will be hard. In just 30 (game) minutes we'll know whether Penn has done this tall task.
:00 Penn 2 NU 5
Here's another stat Penn has been poor at: groundballs. It seems that any 50-50 ball is going NU's way, and any that Penn actually comes up with was only after Penn had dropped the ball.
Meredith Frank scores for NU, yet again pushing the NU lead to three.
Penn senior Rachel Manson is fouled as the buzzer sounds, but the refs add a second on. She gets a free position shot. Lanthrop saves it, however. She's clearly been a top player tonight.
3:41 Penn 2 NU 4
DeLuca shoots but gets shutdown by Lanthrop.
6:08 Penn 2 NU 4
Penn causes another turnover yet can't capitalize off of a Chelsea Kocis pass that gets broken up.
7:26 Penn 2 NU 4
Penn finally gets a shot off, as sophomore Emma Spiro gets a shot off, but it doesn't go far, as Sara Harrington hits Spiro's stick at the release point. After a turnover on either side Penn's Kaitlyn Lombardo gets a free position shot from directly at the top of the eight meter crease. And she fires a great shot to the top shelf. One-third of Northwestern's lead is cut.
11:28 Penn 1 NU 4
Penn keeps turning it over/not finishing clears. And this dooms them as Nielsen gets yet another assist by passing to Katrina Dowd. Dowd grabs the pass directly in front of Waxman and rips off a shot. And just like that Penn finds itself down by three.
13:51 Penn 1 NU 3
NU goalkeeper Morgan Lanthrop gets a nice save off an Allison Ambrozy free position shot.
16: 10 Penn 1 NU 3
Bowen gets another goal off a great pass from Nielsen. Immediately following, NU gets yet another draw. Guess what, Penn's back on defense. They need a stop. Well they get one since there's an offensive foul on Danielle Spencer.
18:34 Penn 1 NU 2
Nice save by Waxman. Penn's still playing too much defense. NU's offensive philosophy has clearly been to shield the Penn defenders by screening a lot of their top options such as Nielsen and Bowen.
20:08 Penn 1 NU 2
Bowen gets a great pass to a wide-open Meghan Plunkett who scorches it straight into the goal. Just like against Duke, Penn has let an early 1-0 lead disappear.
21:36 Penn 1 NU 1 (Media Timeout)
Goalkeeper Waxman makes a great save, but the Quakers can't get the clear. So far in eight-plus minutes Penn has been on defense for the majority. With the potent NU offense, any more time in the Quakers' third and the Wildcats are bound to run up the score. Penn must improve on its clears.
25:23 Penn 1 NU 1
NU's Hilary Bowen gets a free position shot but misses. Good news for Penn, who gave up several free-position goals on Friday. But NU keeps possession. Eventually Hannah Nielsen rips a shot while sprinting around the edge of the crease to avoid Penn's Tarah Kirnan. Sarah Waxman can't save it, and Northwestern has now equalized the game.
28:58 left in first half Penn 1 Northwestern 0
Penn got the first draw, which clearly bodes well for this all-important stat. And after turning it over, the Quakers get it back. Sophomore Ali DeLuca sprint down the field and shoot a left-handed shot down low for the game's opening tally.
Welcome yet again to the 2008 NCAA Division-I Women's Lacrosse Tournament from Johnny Unitas Stadium in Towson, Md. Today's final pits the No. 2 Penn Quakers (17-1) against the top-seeded Northwestern Wildcats (20-1). In case you didn't get a chance to do so already, you can read my preview of tonight's game right here.
It's been quite the journey for the women's lacrosse team, who had a decent 10-6 record in 2006 and then made the Final Four last year with a record of 16-1 before getting demolished by the Wildcats in the national semifinal. This year saw even higher levels of success, as the squad beat the Wildcats 11-7, earned its first ever national No. 1 ranking, and made it to the National Championship game for the first time ever.
In fact they're the first Penn team to make it to an NCAA final. So this game clearly is one of the biggest games in Penn athletics history. As such the Penn Athletics administration is in full show today. Athletic Director Steve Bilsky shared an elevator with me, even complementing the DP's coverage of the team. And for the first time this season, all four of the Athletic Communications personnel are in attendance at a Penn sporting event. I've also been told that several Penn coaches are in attendance, including volleyball coach Kerry Carr, softball coach Leslie King and women's track coach Gwen Harris, although I'll admit I didn't have time to look for them in the stands.
Of course Penn Athletics representatives aren't the only ones here. There is quite a crowd, although I'd say Northwestern probably has more fans than Penn does. Even if that's not actually true, it certainly appears so since Northwestern fans are much better at one thing than Penn: dressing in the same colors. All Northwestern fans are wearing purple, so there's a sea of purple on one side of the field. Even though the other side of the field is clearly made up of Penn supporters, they're not wearing a solid blue or red, so it's not as visually impressive. Regardless, I'm sure it'll be a loud crowd for both teams.
As I have several times this season, I'll provide in-game updates of the match, but again I'm limited by NCAA regulations to only six times a half, plus once at halftime. Of course on Friday I was a little lax (no pun intended) about that during the game's crazy final 10 minutes. So I'll try to follow the rules better today. But no guarantees, NCAA Media Enforcement Bureau, or whoever it is that monitors blogs.
(Before reading my preview for the Championship game, feel free to read my recap of the Final Four game).
The Penn women's lacrosse team is an outstanding 33-3 in the last two seasons.
But that record is only the second-best one since the start of the 2007 campaign.
Instead Northwestern, who is an astonishing 41-2 in that span (and 82-3 over the last four years), has been the best team of the last two years.
So when these two squads face off for the NCAA championship tonight at 7 p.m. in Towson University's Johnny Unitas Stadium, it clearly will be a matchup between the two most dominant teams of the last two years of women's lacrosse.
Add to this the fact that three of the teams' combined fives losses in that span have come at the hands of the other squad, and you get two teams that are chomping at the bit to face each other.
"Everything seems surreal," Penn senior Allison Ambrozy said. "They are the one team that’s really blemished our success in the last few years. They're the three time national champions. I wouldn’t want to play anyone else for the title.
"We're so happy to play them again. Wouldn't it be the greatest thing if we gave them their only two losses [of the season] like they did to us last year.
In the teams' previous five matches, the No. 1 Wildcats (20-1) won four of them by a combined score of 55-20, including a 12-2 demolishing in last year's Final Four at Franklin Field.
But the No. 2 Quakers (17-1) reversed the trend in the most recent game. The Quakers won 11-7 at home April 27, as the Penn defense shut out the Wildcats for the last 35 minutes of the game.
Beating Northwestern "definitely gives you confidence," Penn coach Karin Brower said. "But they’re ready to avenge the loss. Yet it does give us confidence since not many teams have been able to beat them the last four years. "
Despite beating the Wildcats the last time out, Penn still realizes Northwestern is favored tonight.
"I don’t think you feel the pressure," Brower said. "We’re the underdogs, no question. We like being in this position."
Ambrozy believes that tonight's game will see a refocused Northwestern team ready to dish out some payback for its sole loss of the year.
"They’ll come out with a little bit more fire," the midfielder said. "They haven’t been able to crack our defense. They’ll be more ready for that ... I’m guessing they’re a little pissed off."
Even if Northwestern was not the opponent, this would be a tremendously important game for the Penn team. In fact, this game might be the biggest game in the history of the Penn Athletics. If the Quakers were to win, it would be the first team NCAA title a Penn program has ever won.
"It’s amazing," Ambrozy said. "It's everything we’ve been looking forward to. It feels great. It's a very rewarding thing."
(NB: I'd just like to reemphasize what Andrew said yesterday. This game, in my opinion, is the biggest game in Penn Athletics history since the men's basketball team faced Michigan State in the 1979 Final Four, if not of all time. So it clearly is a must-watch for any Penn fan. I know this is late notice, but tickets still remain. It's about a two hour drive from Philadelphia to Towson (a Baltimore suburb), and only an hour-long one from D.C. If you cannot make it, CSTV will cover it, as will pennathletics.com on the radio and myself on this blog. Simply put, this is a huge game for Penn Athletics, so do your best to follow along.)
I don't claim to know much about women's lacrosse, or lacrosse in general, but here are a few quick thoughts...
--Women's lacrosse frequently gets knocked for being a dull, watered down version of the real game. I can't speak to that, but what I will say is that at an elite level, women's lacrosse is a highly entertaining game to watch. Sure, it's less physical than the men's game, but that really places a premium on each possession, creating more excitement.
--Penn's patience on both ends of the ball and carefully thought-out, methodical attacks put the Quakers over the edge tonight. The leadership and coaching for Penn is outstanding. Down 6-4 as time began to wind down in the second half, the Red and Blue could have easily started to panic and stray from their game plan. Instead, the Quakers became even more focused on executing their strategy. They didn't rush anything and waited for the right shots, as they have done all season long. You can't say enough about the maturity of this group.
--Penn athletes and fans alike frequently complain that the DP is overly critical of the school's sports teams. I would like to take this opportunity to spread the word (this is "The Buzz," after all) to the six of you that are still keeping up with this blog over the summer to tune into CBS College Sports at 7 on Sunday. If you can make it down to Towson, even better. It is very rare for a Penn sports team to have a chance to capture a national championship, so the women's lacrosse team deserves all the support we can give it right now. This particular program, under the careful guidance of Karin Brower, has progressed immensely in the past few years to become a true national powerhouse, proving all of the naysayers wrong along the way. A win on Sunday would go down as one of the greatest wins in the storied history of Penn Athletics, and regardless of the outcome, it will be a monumental day for Penn.
So 7 pm, Sunday, before the Lakers game, watch Penn make its bid for a national championship against the current women's lacrosse dynasty that is Northwestern (which Penn knocked off a few weeks ago). As I'm sure Zach will explain shortly, this game has all the storylines for a Penn women's lacrosse game you could possibly want. If you don't get CBS College Sports, keep up with the game here or on Penn Athletics. And spread the word. You don't have to be a lacrosse fan or know much about the game to appreciate it. Trust me, I don't know much, but it's easy to follow. As far as I'm concerned, this is a time for the entire Penn community, DP included, to rally behind the best sports team at the school right now on the biggest stage of all. Go Quakers!
END OF GAME. DUKE 8 PENN 9
IT'S OVER PENN WINS!!!!! FOR THE FIRST TIME IN PROGRAM HISTORY PENN IS GOING TO THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME. THEY'LL PLAY NORTHWESTERN ON SUNDAY FOR THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
:42 Duke 8 Penn 9
:45 a foul is called on Duke, and Giulia Giordano has a free position. SHE PASSES IT OFF TO RACHEL MANSON WHO SCORES!
End of first OT period Duke 8 Penn 8
Waxman gets a great low save at :25, but takes the rest of OT to get it away. That's her seventh save of the night.
END OF REGULATION Duke 8 Penn 8
Penn had the ball for the last 45 seconds, but its only shot was wide and high.
Here's how OT works. There are two, three-minute periods. Both are played to their full length regardless of how many goals are or aren't scored. So it is not sudden death.
I've seen over 20 women's lacrosse games in my two years covering the team, and this game is without a doubt the most nerve-wracking I've ever watched. Regardless of the outcome it'll be a sweet finish. (This isn't hurt by the fact that "Baba O'Reily" is being played over the PA system.)
1:00 Duke 8 Penn 8
A delayed penalty called on Penn. On the ensuing free position shot Gilbride scores. 60 seconds will determine this final four game.
1:25 Duke 7 Penn 8
A Duke shot goes past goal. But Duke keeps possession. Davis fumbles it, but they regain possession. Kimel takes her last timeout. 85 seconds to go.
3:14 Duke 7 Penn 8
Penn turns it over. Duke will have plenty of time to tie it up.
5:40 Duke 7 Penn 8
Lehman drives down the center of the crease and scores her third of the game. Penn leads for the first time since 2:52 into the first. A stick check was called on Lehman, but the refs hold it up. Four-thirds of the Duke's lead is cut.
6:57 Duke 7 Penn 7
A media timeout is called. Penn had lost possession of the ball and Duke started charging up the field. But Ambrozy got some payback, causing Duke's Christina Germinario to turn it over. A foul is then called as Penn now has possession.
10:25 Duke 7 Penn 7
Chelsea Kocis takes it, shoots, but gets blocked by Imbesi. No foul called, though there was contact.
11:38 Duke 7 Penn 7
An Ambrozy shot goes wide. But soon after sophomore Ali DeLuca takes a low-angle shot, tying the game up. Three-thirds of Duke's lead is cut. Kimel calls her team's second of three timeouts.
12:56 Duke 7 Penn 6
On the ensuing draw control Ambrozy gets the draw. Penn's back on offense, taking its time despite the deficit. Lombardo takes another shot, but it's off the crossbar. Later on Melissa Lehman takes a bounce shot and it hits the back of the net. Two-thirds of the Duke's lead is cut.
A media timeout is called.
15:08 Duke 7 Penn 5
Kaitlyn Lombardo takes a Giordano pass and rips it into the goal. One-third of Duke's lead is cut.
18:05 Duke 7 Penn 4
Davis drives around the lower left side of the field, beats her defender, and gets her fifth goal of the game. Yes there's plenty of time left, but Duke then gets the draw control. Things just aren't looking good for Penn.
19:34 Duke 6 Penn 4.
Waxman gets a few saves, yet bobbles all of them as she just couldn't get possession of the ball. The All-Ivy selection just isn't looking too sharp today. A media timeout is called, which has to be a relief to these Quakers. They haven't come out looking to hot here, and Duke has been dominating possession this half. The Quakers must get a stop.
22:34 Duke 6 Penn 4
The refs call yet another foul against Penn. Of the free position shot, Davis scores her fourth of the night, her 60th of the season. Brower takes a timeout.
The foul disparity has now reached 14-5 in Duke's favor.
23:09 Duke 5 Penn 4
Katie Mazer gets a yellow card and must sit for the next three minutes. However Penn can sub.
25:00 Duke 5 Penn 4
Duke scores, as Davis gets another goal -- her third -- despite the ball trickling past Sarah Waxman. For a second the refs discussed whether it was a legal goal, but they did allow it.
26:03 Duke 4 Penn 4
Giordano scores off a pass from senior Chelsea Kocis. It's her 20th of the year. It's the first goal since 18:54 left in the first.
28:16 Duke 4 Penn 3
Great kick save by Imbesi of senior Allison Ambrozy.
HALFTIME: DUKE 4 PENN 3
Well for only the third time this year Penn find itself down going into the second. So far the Quakers are 2-1 in such situations, overcoming a 4-2 deficit at Cornell to win 7-6 and a 7-5 disadvantage to beat Northwestern 11-7. They couldn't surpass Stanford's 5-2 halftime lead, falling 10-8. So for them to come back down one at the break is certainly not unthinkable.
But for them to do so they must do a better job containing the Duke offense. Yes they've only given up four goals. But considering they average only six goals allowed, they're not doing as great of a job as they normally do on the defensive end. They gave up 10 shots, while only getting eight of their own. This includes letting Duke go 2-3 on free position shots. In return the Quakers are getting frustrated, as they've committed nine fouls vs. Duke's three. Finally, I know Coach Karin Brower always stresses draw controls. So she's clearly not happy her squad has been outdrawn 5-3.
This first five minutes of the second could make or break the game. If Penn comes out strong and scores a few quick goals, they might not relinquish the lead again. But if they come out uninspired and Duke scores first, this Penn squad better shape up quickly, or else they'll see another great season come to a bitter close. In 30 (game) minutes we'll find out which scenario it is. Stick around.
0:00 Duke 4 Penn 3.
Right at the buzzer Waxman makes a great save off a Jess Adams shot preventing the Blue Devils from increasing their lead. Maybe the Quakers can use this to get some momentum, as they'll need to come back in the second if they want to advance to the National Championship game Sunday.
1:52 Duke 4 Penn3
Great save by Imbesi on a Manson shot.
4:28 Duke 4 Penn 3
Kaitlyn Lombardo gets decked by two Duke players. But on the free position she runs away from goal.
6:01 Duke 4 Penn 3
Great save by Waxman, although she doesn't maintain possession. But Penn gets the groundball.
12:06 Duke 4 Penn 3
Senior Melissa Lehman scores off of a scorcher from about eight feet out. Penn's now within one.
13:55 Duke 4 Penn 2
Waxman gets a key save, maybe getting back some confidence after giving up four early goals.
15:20 Duke 4 Penn 2
Off a free position shot Duke's Lindsay Gilbride gets her 38th goal of the year. Penn's strategy of holding onto the ball for as long as possible to get the best possible shot might backfire if they fall behind by too much more. They need to get a stop right here.
17:30 Duke 3 Penn 2
After a timeout, Penn clears, then holds onto the ball for a solid few minutes. This has been Penn's standard attack: slow and deliberate offense. Penn finally gets off some shots, but freshman Giulia Giordano is stopped by Duke goalie Kim Imbesi twice.
23:31 Duke 3 Penn 2
Yet another goal by Davis, this time a low-angle shot, one that Penn goalkeeper Sarah Waxman seemed surprise she even took.
25:17 Duke 2 Penn 2
Sophomore Emma Spiro gets an unassisted goal to tie it back up.
26:26 Duke 2 Penn 1
Penn's Ali DeLuca gets beat by Sarah Bullard, giving the Blue Devils their first lead of the game.
27:18 Penn 1 Duke 1
Carolyn Davis gets a goal off of a free position shot after Penn senior Tarah Kirnan fouls her. The game is all square at one.
29:00 left in the first half Penn 1 Duke 0.
The Quakers win the opening draw, and set up their deliberate offense. And at 29:00 mark senior Rachel Manson scores the first goal of the game. Senior Allison Ambrozy earns the assist.
Welcome back to the second leg of the Final Four from Johnny Unitas Stadium at Towson University, as No. 2 Penn (16-1) takes on unseeded Duke (13-7). The winner will get Northwestern, who dominated Syracuse 16-8, including scoring nine unanswered in the second half. (When asked in the postgame press conference "what if it's Penn?" in the National Championship game, NU coach Kelly Amonte-Hiller refused to answer the question.)
Penn, as the higher seed is wearing its home whites, and Duke is wearing a mix of its black and blue. Unfortunately, I'm limited on how often I can post Buzz updates, so I'll only post every five minutes give or take.
Final Northwestern 16 Syracuse 8
The Wildcats dominated the second half, scoring nine straight before Syracuse got two late goals. If it's any solace, the Orange did do better than their previous game against Northwestern, when they lost 19-7.
7:37 left: Northwestern 15 Syracuse 6.
In some ways you could say this is the opposite of NU's Final Four game last year. In that game they outscored Penn 8-0 in the first half, and 4-2 in the second. Today they went up 7-6 vs. the Orange at half, but have now gone on an incredible 8-0 run to pretty much clinch a spot in Sunday's national championship game.
There is a plane flying above Johnny Unitas Stadium that has a message attached to its tail: "DUKE WLAX NEVER NEVER NEVER GIVE IN!" Certain words come to mind, but I don't think I can post them on this blog.
Halftime of the NU-SU semifinal: Northwestern 7 Syracuse 6
This game has been pretty back and forth. It appeared Northwestern had seized the momentum in the last few minutes as it went up by two, but Syracuse junior Megan Mosenson scored a great goal right as she was hit with 1:53 left.
Looking around the stadium, the south half of the stands are near capacity, with the majority of them Northwestern fans. However, the north side of the stadium is only about half-filled, including the Syracuse fan section. Overall I'd say there's a smaller crowd then there was for last year's Final Four hosted at Franklin Field.
If you're into fight songs/college athletics atmosphere, you'd be happy. Despite none of the bands showing up, the PA system does play the scoring school's fight song after every goal.
Welcome to Johnny Unitas Stadium in Towson, Md., for the Final Four of the Division I Women's Lacrosse NCAA tournament. No. 2 Penn (16-1) will play unseeded Duke (13-7) in the second semifinal tonight at 8:30 p.m. Right now No.1 Northwestern (19-1) is playing No. 5 Syracuse (18-2) in the first semifinal of the night, a matchup that pits the first- and third-ranked offenses in the nation.
That game started off to a blistering start, as two goals were scored in the first 2:30 minutes. However the next 15 minutes only saw two goals total. After that the scoring picked back up, and now the score stands at 5-4 Orange with 7:43 to go. Northwestern clearly isn't going to coast to its fourth straight National Championship.
Update: Here's a preview I posted online for Uwire.com
I've been away for the last few days, so I haven't been able to write a standard preview for the women's lacrosse game today between No. 2 Penn (16-1) and unseeded Duke (13-7) in the Final Four. First draw is at 8:30 p.m. from Towson University's Johnny Unitas Stadium. The winner will face the team that advances from the No. 1 Northwestern-No. 5 Syracuse semifinal at 6 p.m.
Instead, I'll have some select quotes from Penn coach Karin Brower from a press conference held Tuesday with the Final Four coaches. Many members of the national media were more interested in Brower's view of Northwestern than anything else. Also I'll compare the key stats for both sides.
Brower On being back in the Final Four: Well we're very excited to be back at the Final Four for the second straight year. We have a great group of seniors who have been exceptional leaders all year and we're excited to be playing Duke.
On beating Northwestern: Northwestern plays a different defense then everyone else, so you really can't play your normal offense against them. They don't let you set up the draw, or let you relax and get around and into typical plays. They're constantly doubling you. You need a few weeks to prepare and be composed.
On the job Northwestern Coach Kelly Amonte-Hiller has done: I think Kelly has done an exceptional job of getting the Northwestern players to have confidence in themselves. That was the toughest thing for me here at Penn, for a team that would keep losing in a tough conference. It was about getting kids to believe that they really can win. And I think Kelly has done great job with that, as her kids play with so much confidence.
On Penn winning in the Ivy League: I think when I came here the team had been losing pretty badly to the Princetons, the Dartmouths. We had to get kids that are exceptionally motivated, and get them to believe. We got some of those kids in place [now] that are just workers, maybe they have a little chip in their shoulders.
On Penn not getting respect: We haven't gotten any respect in years past. Like last year we weren't even ranked in the preseason polls, but teams we had beaten the year before were ranked ahead of us. Our kids said we're better than that, and they proved that.
On making Penn good again: When I came to Penn... they had dropped a little bit. I hoped to bring Penn up to the tradition of excellence they used to have.
On becoming a dynasty: We'd love the opportunity to play in the Championship Game, whether it's against Syracuse or Northwestern. If we win then great. But lacrosse is growing, and every school is getting better. What Northwestern has done is incredible. It'd be a tough thing to follow.
Stats: Duke is 2-0 all-time against Penn. They played a home-and-home in 2002 and 2003, with the Blue Devils winning the first match 13-7 at home and then again 15-5 at Franklin Field in 2003.
Like most of Penn's opponents this year, Duke averages more goals per game than the Quakers, scoring 13.55 per match. The Quakers meanwhile only average 10.59. But of course Penn's defense is its biggest strength, as its 6.00 goals-allowed-average is tops in the nation. Duke gives up 10.15.
As such, Duke's point total of 384 is ninth in the nation (fifth of any team who made the tournament), while Penn's isn't in the top 30. In scoring defense Penn is first, and Duke is 29th. But in the end Penn has more of a scoring advantage, as its scoring margin of 4.59 goals per game ranks ninth, while Duke's 3.40 ranks 15th.
That's it for now. But I'm going to have game updates later tonight.
I’m writing from Drexel’s Vidas Field to cover the Women’s Lacrosse NCAA Quarterfinal between No. 2 Penn and No. 7 Boston University. Unfortunately the internet is basically non-existent here, so you’ll probably be reading these updates after the game is over and I’ve found a wireless hotspot.
Regardless, this game should be a good one. Both teams are on long winning streaks, although they’ve achieved success differently. Penn has had one of the strongest defenses in the nation, as starting goalkeeper Sarah Waxman’s 6.04 goals-against-average leads the nation. The Terriers meanwhile have the nation’s third highest scoring offense.
With a berth to the NCAA Final Four against either Duke or No. 3 Maryland, it’ll be interesting to which side’s kind of game this becomes. If it turns into an offensive shootout Penn might some have problems as its offense only averages 10.75 goals a game. But if it’s a defensive standstill, the Quakers could get the ‘W’ since they are undefeated when their opponents score under 10 goals.
Early Save by Waxman
BU 1 Penn 0 24:24
BU scores first. This happened last year as well. In fact I think Lauren Morton got both of them. Well she at least scored this year’s opening goal.
BU 1 Penn 1 24:10
Off a fast break senior Chelsea Kocis whips a great cross field pass to senior Rachel Manson, who just rockets it to the lower left of the goal for Penn’s first score.
Nice save off free position 22:43 by BU goalkeeper Rachel Klein.
BU 2 Penn 1 21:12
Sam Wetzel gets BU’s second of the game.
BU 2 Penn 2 20:11
Freshman Giulia Giordano scores off a low shot that bounces off the ground, then the post.
15:45 A goal off of a sweet DeLuca pass to Manson.was called off.
Penn 3 BU 2 13:57
Senior Melissa Lehman gets one off a fellow co-captain Allison Ambrozy pass.
Penn 4 BU 29:14
Kaitlyn Lombardo runs around the crease then fires a low shot for Penn’s fourth goal.
3:38 nice save on a low shot by Waxman.
HALFTIME: Penn 4 BU 2
26:32 Penn shot by Manson goes off the crossbar.
Penn 4 BU 3 25:43
Morton gets her second of the game.
Penn 5 BU 3 23:52
Sophomore Emma Spiro gets her first goal, pushing the Penn lead back to two.
Penn 6 BU 3 16:02
Spiro gets her second of the game of a free position unassisted
Penn 7 BU 3 14:00
Off of a Ambrozy pass Manson gets her second.
Penn 8 BU 3 11:53
Ali DeLuca gets her first goal of the game.
Penn 8 BU 4 11:30
BU’s Sarah Dalton, who came into the game leading the Terriers with 82 points, gets her first goal of the game.
Penn 8 BU 5 5:00
Dalton gets her second. Penn coach Karin Brower calls a timeout.
Penn 8 BU 5 FINAL
BU gets a few shots off, but Quakers goalkeeper Sarah Waxman stops any and all attempts to make the game closer. In the end the Quakers hold onto the ball and get out with the 8-5 vicotry. They'll face Duke in the NCAA Final Four this Friday at Towson University's Johnny Unitas Field.
Just a few notes before tomorrow's NCAA Tournament quarterfinal between No. 2 Penn and Boston University.
*Read my preview here and a feature on the senior class here.
*Tomorrow's 1 p.m. game will be played at Drexel's Vidas Field due to graduation setup at Franklin Field. However, Vidas does not have any internet connections, so I won't be able to do my live blog updates (I'm sure the NCAA won't mind, though). So what I'll do is type up game notes offline, and then as soon as I get a chance, I'll post them. So while you won't get live updates, you will get a rough goal-by-goal account later Saturday.
Then sometime Sunday, maybe Monday, I'll post a full recap with quotes.
*With only eight teams left in the tournament, clearly every game is important. But looking at the NCAA bracket, two of the three other games should interest Quaker fans.
The first one of course is the game in Penn's half of the bracket: Duke at No. 3 Maryland. Duke might be unseeded, but the Blue Devils did give the Terrapins one of their two losses on the season. First draw is at 1pm.
The other is at the top of the bracket. While the winner of game wouldn't face Penn until the finals, it does pit two of Penn's most familiar -- and disliked -- opponents: Northwestern and Princeton. The No. 8 Tigers will travel to the Wildcats, who are the top seed in the tournament. The game is slated to start at 2pm ET.
The third matchup, while not as interesting for Quaker fans as the others, sees No. 5 Syracuse hosting unseeded North Carolina. The Tar Heels upset No. 4 Virginia in the first round. The game also will start at 1pm.
Note: This is my recap from yesterday's Penn-Colgate game. Sorry for the delay but I was waiting for Inside Lacrosse to edit it and post it to their site, but they never did.
PHILADELPHIA — The last time the University of Pennsylvania Women’s Lacrosse team played an NCAA tournament game in Franklin Field, Northwestern embarrassed the Quakers 12-2 in the Final Four.
But when the No. 2 Quakers took on Colgate Sunday in the first round of the NCAA tournament, it was the Quakers that embarrassed their opponents.
Behind a hat trick apiece from seniors Melissa Lehman and Rachel Manson as well as sophomore Ali DeLuca, the Quakers steamrolled the Raiders 16-7 in front of 513 spectators.
Colgate “looked impressive on tape and I think they have a lot of good athletes,” Penn coach Karin Brower said. “But I think we were just ready to come out right from the first whistle ... [We] just did an exceptional job of that.”
The game started off on a blistering pace as Penn scored the first goal just thirty seconds into the game. Even nine and a half minutes later the game was high scoring, as the score stood at 5-3 Penn 10 minutes into the game.
Colgate coach Heather Bliss was not surprised by this early offensive output.
“With women’s lacrosse you either have a very low scoring game or each team rattles off a lot of goals right in a row,” she said. “So I think it was typical to what we’ve seen all season and in other games.”
Brower chalked up the high output to an increased tempo, something which ironically is more a strength of Colgate than Penn.
“They play an up-tempo game and like to push it on the fast break,” Brower said. “We were ready for that … We’ve been working on fast breaks this week, which is usually something we don’t push.
“We got caught up in that tempo. But I think in the second half we did a better job of controlling the tempo.”
“It’s tournament time so you’ve got to bring it,” Manson added. “We were really fired up for this game, as we will be for the rest of our games.”
While the scoreboard showed a 10-4 Penn lead at the break, the Quakers (15-1) slowed down their play in the second half. They held onto to the ball for long stretches, as the two teams combined for only nine goals in the second frame.
In the end, the seven goals for Colgate (11-10) were above Penn’s nation-leading goals-against-average of 6.00. Also, the seven goals were an all-time tournament high for Colgate.
“We played how we normally play,” Colgate attack Molly Carroll said. “We heard their defense was great … But you have to put that aside and play like we normally play against other teams.”
On the flip side, Brower pointed out her team’s defense as the big negative from the game.
“I don’t think it was a strong defensive game for us,” Brower said. “I don’t think we played well as a team defensively. We left a lot of individual defenders in one-on-ones. We weren’t denying cuts very well. And usually that’s a big strength of ours, team defense. We clearly have a lot of work to do this week to get our defense back up to where we want it to be.”
But if the defense played poorly for their standards, the offense exceeded theirs. The 16 goals were the team's season high, and with her hat trick and two assists Manson continued her climb in the Quakers’ record book. The product out of Alexandria, Va., now has 111 career goals, which ties her with for second all-time with Karen McFadden, and 41 assists which ties her for fourth with Julie Heller. Those 152 points makes her Penn's third-highest point leader all-time, passing 2007 graduate Chrissy Muller.
“She’s really the quarterback of that attack,” Brower said of Manson. “She calms them down and steps things up and finishes when she needs to finish. She’s been an outstanding player for us for four years. It’s exciting that she’s playing so well in her senior year.”
For the Raiders, although the team had been to the tournament in both 2005 and 2006, this was the first time all but one of the players participated in the NCAAs since the team is youth-laden.
“It was pretty special for the two of us since we’re both from the Philadelphia area,” Raider goalkeeper Sara Drexler said of her and fellow junior Carroll. “I think I had 15 fans here today. It was a tough game; Penn’s a great opponent. But it was a really great first experience.”
Penn meanwhile had the experience of three tournament games last year, including the disaster against Northwestern. And Manson believes that after last year the team is even better equipped to go the distance in 2008.
“I think the team is a little more mentally prepared than last year,” she said. “People talked about last year as a Cinderella story and it happened so fast. But this year we came out with the goal of national champions and we’re not surprised we’re in the quarterfinals right now.”
Next up for the Quakers is No. 7 Boston University who dispatched New Hampshire 16-8 Sunday. But Saturday's game won't be played at Franklin Field despite Penn being the higher seeded team. Instead, because Franklin Field will be set up for graduation ceremonies, Penn must claim Drexel's Vidas Field as its home stadium.
Ironically, the Quakers and Terriers have only met once -- last year in the NCAA first round. Penn won 11-5. (Even more ironic, that game also wasn't played at Franklin Field due to graduation; it was played on Rhodes Field.)
"We played them last year," Brower said, "but I think they're an improved team. We're an improved team as well ... We've got to keep that final four goal in the back of our minds"
FINAL PENN 16 COLGATE 7
Even though Colgate scored the last goal, the Quakers are the one advancing. Next Saturday the Quakers will face Boston University although the game will be held at Drexel's stadium due to graduation festivities at Franklin Field.
A full recap will appear later today on the Buzz.
1:03 Penn 16 Colgate 7
Colgate still isn't giving up, as they now have a higher total than Penn's average goals allowed per game (6.00).
1:32 Penn 16 Colgate 6
Seaman gets her second off of classmate Meg Smith's pass. The goal now makes this game Penn's highest scoring of the season.
3:04 Penn 15 Colgate 6
With the game well in hand, the Quakers are subbing out most of their starters and giving some valuable tournament experience to the underclassmen. However, this lack of the Quakers' top tier talent leads to a Colgate goal.
10:50 Penn 15 Colgate 5
Penn reextends its lead to 10, causing the clock to keep running due to the mercy rule, as Spiro gets her second goal of the game.
16:54 Penn 14 Colgate 5
Colgate finally answers back, as Colleen Bubnack gets her second of the game.
18:00 Penn 14 Colgate 4
DeLuca get a crisp pass from junior Hannah Rudloff and the sophomore earns her third goal of the game.
20:18 Penn 13 Colgate 4
Less than a minute later sophomore Barb Seaman off of sophomore Courtney Lube's pass streaks into the crease and fires a shot past Drexler.
20:51 Penn 12 Colgate 4
Spiro gets fouled and then on the ensuing free position shot nails in a goal. Penn also scored around the 22 minute mark.
HALFTIME
The Quakers were definitely in control in the first half, although when Colgate had the ball they did pretty well. In fact, Waxman only got two saves, whereas Drexler got six. Although of course Waxman has let up four goals vs ten.
And the winner of this game will get Boston University. The Terriers beat New Hampshire 16-8. Looking at the other scores, No. 3 Maryland is leading Temple 8-5 at half. North Carolina is half way to an upset, leading No. 4 Virginia 6-3. And finally No. 8 Princeton is tied at six with Vanderbilt.
The crowd here at Franklin Field isn't as large as it has been this year, as the Northwestern game clearly had a larger and more vocal crowd. In fact the Penn parents, normally quite vocal aren't too loud today. Maybe that's because their vocal and emotional leader, Mrs. Kym the security guard only just appeared.
Despite the slightly smaller numbers, there are a couple of Penn Athletics "bigshots" in attendance, including AD Steve Bilsky and women's basketball coach Pat Knapp. However they're not sitting next to each other. Interesting...
0:00 Penn 10 Colgate 4
Colgate got a couple of late chances to cut the lead down, but Penn goalkeeper Sarah Waxman made two key saves.
1:20 Penn 10 Colgate 4
Ambrozy gets her first goal of the game as Manson increases her point total with an assist.
7:09 Penn 9 Colgate 4
Penn's four-goal run ends with Molly Carroll's first goal for the Raiders.
8:06 Penn 9 Colgate 3
Lehman gets a nice pass from Giordano and rips off a shot. Colgate goalkeeper Sara Drexler knocks it down, but it still trickles into the goal.
12:04 Penn 8 Colgate 3
The Quakers keep increasing its lead off a free position goal by DeLuca. She had picked off a pass around midfield, sprinted to the Raiders' goal, yet got fouled before she could shoot.
14:22 Penn 7 Colgate 3
Penn takes a four goal lead after some crisp passing from senior Chelsea Kocis allowed Manson to rip a shot to the upper left corner for a hat trick.
17: 25 Penn 6 Colgate 3
But just as Colgate refuses to go away, Penn refuses to let them come back. Freshman Giordano makes sure of that by getting a feed from sophomore Emma Spiro. It came after a Kaitlyn Lombardo shot ricocheted off the post.
20:10 Penn 5 Colgate 3
Colgate gets another tally, as they refuse to be put away. I should add that there is a sizable Colgate crowd here today, many of whom are more vocal than the Penn supporters.
22:24 Penn 5 Colgate 2
Penn increases its lead back to three off of Manson's second goal.
24:01 Penn 4 Colgate 2
Another minute goes by and Colgate gets its second of the game. Clearly this is going to be a high scoring affair.
25:02 Penn 4 Colgate 1
Penn rebounds from the Colgate goal with a tally of its own from sophomore Ali DeLuca.
26:13 Penn 3 Colgate 1
But then 18 seconds later Colgate takes the ball off the draw, drives down field and scores its first goal. Clearly when the Raiders have the ball they're still potent.
26:31 Penn 3 Colgate 0
Then thirty seconds later senior Melissa Lehman gets a feed of off classmate Manson and the Quakers are up by three still earlier.
27:00 Penn 2 Colgate 0
Freshman Guilia Giordano gets a feed off of senior Allison Ambrozy for the Quakers' second goal
First Half 29:30 left Penn 1 Colgate 0
And just like that Penn is already in the lead. The Quakers took the opening draw, and after almost losing possession senior Rachel Manson got the ball, cut across the crease from the left side and ripped a shot that gave the Quakers quite the early lead.
Welcome to Franklin Field on this gray May day. The Colgate Raiders (11-9) come to town to take on the No. 2 seed Quakers (14-1, 7-0 Ivy League) in the first round of the NCAA tournament. I'll be providing game updates, although as this is an NCAA championship event I'm limited on how often I can blog. So I'll post my updates roughly every five minutes (written in bold) even though I'll give the time designation for all the goals.
The Raiders come into this matchup on a four game winning streak, including wins over American to win the Patriot League championship and over MAAC champion Marist in the NCAA play-in game.
The Quakers meanwhile, are on the nation's second longest win streak at 12 games, having gone undefeated since a March 9 loss@ Stanford. During the streak the Quakers rose to No. 1 in the nation after beating then-undefeated No. 1 Northwestern.
The winner of this game will get the winner of No. 7 Boston University (who owns the nation's longest win streak) and New Hampshire.
When Penn women’s lacrosse coach Karin Brower first found out that the No.2-seeded Quakers (14-1, 7-0 Ivy) would be playing Colgate in the first round of the NCAA tournament, she literally had no clue what kind of team Colgate is, saying “we don’t know anything about Colgate." While she's certainly scouted the Raiders since then, most readers probably have not. So here it is, a preview on the Colgate women's lacrosse team:
Despite starting slow at 7-9, the Raiders have whipped off four straight victories to earn their spot in the NCAA tournament. But the run to get here certainly was pressure-filled, as their last three games all were single elimination ones. First they had the Patriot League Tournament semifinal against Lehigh, which they won 22-12. Then came the championship game at regular season champion American who they had previously lost to 13-10. But they exacted revenge winning 13-8. But their spot in the NCAAs wasn't clinched yet. They still had to win the play-in game against MAAC champion Marist. Yet they won that 19-18 to earn an NCAA bid.
They'll look to their recent stretch for inspiration.
"We’ve definitely already had that [pressure] experience with the play-in game," coach Heather Bliss said. "It was able to get some people to really focus for the week at hand. It was good to get some experience under our belt. Obviously we were successful in that game so that should give us a lot of confidence against Penn."
With the win the they are now in their third NCAA tournament in five years. (Penn meanwhile is only playing in its second since 1984 and fourth all-time.) However, the experience of playing in the tournament will be new to all but one player and one assistant coach.
"We actually have a really young team right now," Bliss said. "And with that our coaching staff is only in its second year. So for a lot of girls on the team it's going to be our first time. So as a program Colgate has been there three times in the past five year, but ... we only have two seniors on the team and actually one wasn't here freshmen year because she transferred. So it'll be a new experience for a lot of the girls. It's something we're definitely enjoying; we're soaking it all up."
Senior Jessica Van der Meulen and assistant coach Heidi Ross (a Colgate '06 alum) are the only two tournament veterans.
Van der Muelen has 14 assists and 32 goals (which would lead the Quakers), putting her third on the team in points. But in addition to the senior captain, the Raiders are led by sophomores Brie Moran and Meghan Lawler who have 53 points apiece.
This balance on offense is one of the teams biggest strengths.
"Some of our biggest strengths are on our attack," Bliss said. "We have seven girls that can be put the ball in the back of the net. Having that balance is really great for us. When teams mark up on two of us, we still have other girls who can get it done. We have a lot of depth."
If their offensive balance is their strength, their schedule was one of their weaknesses, according to Bliss.
"One of the weaker points is that we haven’t played as many top teams as Penn has played this season," Bliss said. "But I don't think that's anything that will hurt us going into the game. We'll still be really excited about it. But they've definitely faced some tougher competition than us this season."
So how do the Raiders matchup with the Quakers?
Looking at Colgate's past performance, they should watch out. The Raiders are 4-7 on the road, and they're 0-5 when they score less than 10 goals. Considering that the game is at Franklin Field and that Penn not only averages only six goals allowed per game, but its only given up as many as 10 goals once, the Raiders better hope their past performance is just that, in the past.
Knowing this, Bliss wants her team to focus.
"We have to be very patient with the attack," she said. "They have some very good one-on-one defenders. We're going to try to get some feeds. We need to be disciplined and get control of the ball when its on our end."
The Raiders are aware that Penn has had a great season, and as such they will try to elevate their play to Penn's level.
"They’ve definitely had a great season," Bliss said. "They're on a great run, and we know they obviously can get it done and be very successful against numerous teams. It's something that we’re keeping in on the back of our minds, trying to come in there and step up our play and hopefully get a win against them."
In less than 15 hours we'll know if the Raiders can do just that and score one of the biggest first round upsets in women's lacrosse history.
Despite claiming they're hated on, the women's lacrosse team dominated the Ivy League All-Ivy selections (although the release does misstate that Princeton is facing Colgate in the second round when it's actually Penn that's facing the Raiders).
The Quakers led the conference with six selections, including Player of the Year Sarah Waxman, and two other unanimous First Teamers, senior attack Rachel Manson and sophomore midfield Ali DeLuca. The other three recognized Quakers were senior midfield Melissa Lehman and senior defense Tarah Kirnan on the First Team and junior defense Hilary Renna on the Second Team.
Waxman, who leads the nation's goalkeepers with a 5.97 goals-against-average with only 82 goals given up, is only the Quakers' second Ivy League POY ever. The other one, ironically also a goalie, was Wendy DiDomenico who won it in 1989. Waxman was voted the IWLCA Goalkeeper of the Year last season.
DeLuca was Ivy League Rookie of the Year last year and appears near the top of the Quakers' stat sheets in nearly ever category this year, ranking first in draw controls (36), caused turnovers (21) and tied for first in game-winning goals (3). She's also second in assists (14), third in goals (19) and points (33) and fourth in ground balls (21).
Manson and Lehman have led the Quakers' attack with 27 and 26 goals, and 18 and 10 assists, respectively. Manson was a Second Team selection and Lehman an honorable mention last year. Kirnan and Renna have anchored a defense that has only given up 6.00 goals per game, best in the nation. Renna was a unanimous First Teamer last year.
Looking towards the Quakers' first round opponent in the NCAA tournament tomorrow, Colgate has only one All-Patriot League selection. Freshman midfield Colleen Bubnack got a Second Team selection after leading the Raiders in assists, caused turnovers and draw controls.
ON THE MEN'S SIDE: Junior attacker Craig Andrzejewski earned the Quakers' sole First Team recognition. The product out of Parkton, Md., lead the Quakers with 40 points, becoming the first All-Ivy First Teamer since both Will Phillips and Patrick Connelly earned the nod in 2004. The Quakers also had a Second Teamer -- freshman midfielder Al Kohart -- and an honorable mention -- senior Max Mauro, a defender.
The NCAA Division I Women’s Lacrosse Tournament bracket was announced Monday evening. Penn is the No. 2 seed and will face Colgate Sunday at 1pm. Over the next few days I’ll provide some analysis and team reactions to the draw. First: Did the Quakers get shafted? Second: Will the Quakers see some familiar faces? Third: Are people biased against Penn and in love with Northwestern? Now up: Isn't that a Quaker on the wrong sideline?
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The last time Karrie Moore was actively involved in a lacrosse game at Franklin Field, it was her Senior Day game against Brown on April 22, 2006. Minding the net for the Quakers, Moore gave up only six goals as Penn coasted to a 15-6 win.
And although she returned to 33rd and South to watch Northwestern play Penn in the Final Four last year, Sunday will mark the first time Moore will return to Franklin Field not as a spectator.
But she won't be on Penn's side of the field.
Instead, the 2006 graduate of the College will be coaching against the Quakers as an assistant coach for Colgate in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
"I think it's a big coincidence," Colgate head coach Heather Bliss said. "Obviously you see this happen with coaches in other sports too. But ... we were very excited when we were watching the selection show and we saw that we drew Penn."
For Moore, this was a dream come true.
"I was very excited," she said about learning she'd coach against her alma mater. "It was the matchup I was hoping for. It's always exciting to go back to Penn."
Moore was the main Quaker goalkeeper in the 2006 season, going 8-3 with 10 starts and five other appearances in the team's 16 games. While she might not be playing goalkeeper any longer, she still spends time near the net; her main responsibility on the Colgate staff is to help with the Raiders' goalies.
While she'll be all business during the game with instructing Raiders' goalie Sara Drexler, she did admit that before and after the game she'd be somewhat conflicted.
"Before the game it definitely will be strange being on the other sideline," she said. "But once the game starts, the excitement of the game will pull me in. And then after the game it will be a little odd seeing my [former] teammates."
This potential unusualness of seeing current and past teammates face off against each other wasn't lost on Moore's superior.
"I know it's nice for her to come back and see her teammates play, but at the same time we're trying to win the game against them," Bliss said. "I think for Karrie she will be happy for them if they win, but she would be ecstatic for us if we win."
In addition to providing Moore with a good story to tell the grandkids one day, returning to face her alma mater will also give her current team some help in the scouting report.
"I think that I have more of an idea of what to expect and with knowing half the team, that makes it a lot easier," the Lutherville, Md. native said.
Bliss agreed: "I definitely think it helps with some things because she does know some players, certainly better than you ever can from watching film."
But giving the Raiders some advice on the Quakers isn't the only thing Moore can tell the team.
"She'll be our tour guide in Philly since she knows everything" about it, Bliss said. "I know it's a really good feeling for her coming back"
The NCAA Division I Women’s Lacrosse Tournament bracket was announced Monday evening. Penn is the No. 2 seed and will face Colgate Sunday at 1pm. Over the next few days I’ll provide some analysis and team reactions to the draw. First: Did the Quakers get shafted? Second: Will the Quakers see some familiar faces? Now up: Are people biased against Penn and in love with Northwestern?
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If there's one theme that the Penn women's lacrosse team has reiterated this season, it's that everyone thinks last year’s record of 16-2 was a fluke, that the Quakers’ Final Four appearance was nothing but a lucky break, and that they don't deserve national recognition this year.
In February when I first interviewed the senior captains about the upcoming season they mentioned the apparent bias against Penn.
"People love to hate us," senior goalkeeper Sarah Waxman said back then. "They make up excuses like 'Penn's not that good.'"
"Definitely some people in the Ivy League think [last year] was a fluke," attack Allison Ambrozy said that day as well.
The most recent instance of this perceived bias came on Monday during the bracket selection show. Some might say that Northwestern getting the one seed over Penn is an example of bias against Penn. But as stated in a previous post, most statistical evidence pointed to Northwestern getting the one. So can numbers be biased? However, after the seeding was announced a commentator on CBS's CollegeSports TV, which aired the selection show, was apparently anti-Penn.
While she admitted she was over Northwestern getting the one seed, Ambrozy was not happy with the commentator's analysis.
"There was this additional commentator... she pretty much was hating on us," the senior said.
"She predicted that us beating Northwestern, which no one else had done, was the best thing for [the Wildcats’] season. That they're only going to be more fired up for Penn, and that essentially it was a fluke and there's no way we could beat Maryland [in the Final Four], which is a lot of crap, a lot of crap."
Ignoring the UMD part for now, the part about Northwestern being extra fired up for Penn has some validity. To be honest, my initial reaction after Penn's win over Northwestern was similar, although I did not think it was a fluke, or that Penn could not accomplish the feat again. However, Northwestern will now have a whole game to look at Penn and learn from its mistakes. Does that mean the Wildcats automatically going to win a potential rematch? No. But will they have extra motivation to beat the Quakers and earn revenge? Yes.
(For example, yesterday (fourth paragraph from the bottom) I compared the Quakers and Wildcats to the Colts and Patriots, respectively. Continuing with this, in 2006 the Colts upset the Pats 27-20 in the regular season. When the two teams met in the AFC championship, many pundits believed the Pats couldn't lose to the Colts twice, and that Tom Brady et al would get revenge for the earlier loss. Well they didn't. They blew a lead and lost 38-34.)
At the same time, suggesting the Northwestern game was a fluke is a slight. Basically the commentator was scoffing at Penn, diminishing what has to be the biggest win of the year so far. Was holding Northwestern -- a team that averages 16.00 goals per game -- scoreless for over an entire half a fluke? I would say not. Marginalizing a great win does no service to the sport.
The second "hating" on Penn, picking No. 3 Maryland over No. 2 Penn in the Final Four, is less insulting. While one does not have to agree with her, the commentator's prediction is valid.
Maryland had an outstanding year, going an incredible 17-2 and only losing to rivals Duke and Virginia by a goal apiece. Both of those teams are in the tournament, and the Cavaliers needed overtime to dispatch the Terps in the ACC Conference Tournament finals.
So to pick the three seed over the two seed isn't that surprising, especially considering a) the Final Four will be played in Towson, Md., just under a hour from College Park, and b) the three seed (UVA) beat the two seed (Duke) in last year's Final Four.
Penn Coach Karin Brower, picking her words carefully, did acknowledge the commentator’s bias.
“They were talking about the Final Four, and we weren’t even given any chance” of advancing from it, Brower said. “[The commentator] said it was Maryland and Northwestern.
“And we’re frustrated with that. But then again, it’s similar to how it’s been all year. No one has thought that we’re any good. And that’s fine … Hopefully we can prove some people wrong.”
Not everyone disrespects Penn. In its short preview of the Quakers' first round matchup against Colgate, Inside Lacrosse says "The Quakers are the best team in the country right now." Well, apparently everyone can't hate the Quakers. (NB: I’ll be writing a more substantial preview later this weekend).
After the jump, the opposite situation: Northwestern
If Penn is the team the media bashes, then Northwestern is the team the media loves. Ironically many traditional powers actually do resent the Wildcats, who have gone from a non-varsity team to dynasty in just five years. But even if some of the sport's bluebloods dislike Northwestern, the media is agog over them.
And why shouldn't they be? The program's meteoric rise from club status to three-time national championship is certainly an inspirational, Cinderella-esque tale. ESPN even acknowledged this, nominating the Wildcats for the ESPY of "Under Armor Undeniable Performance Best Women's Collegiate Team" last year (they lost to Tennessee's basketball program).
The most recent examples of the media's favorable coverage of Northwestern have come from Sports Illustrated. Earlier this season they did a photo gallery of Northwestern players’ apartments as part of their “Campus Cribs” series that highlights collegiate athletes’ dorms. And in the most recent issue, dated May 12, there is a feature on the program (Sports Illustrated issues are dated for the following Monday). Here is the online version of the article. The article focuses on how coach Kelly Amonte Hiller has transformed the team over the last eight years into a national power.
(As many of you probably know, there is a supposed Sports Illustrated Cover Jinx. Fortunately for Northwestern, they're not on the cover, but the jinx could still apply. So if the Wildcats fade out really early from the NCAAs, maybe SI is at fault.)
But ignoring the potential negative results of the article, it's interesting to analyze the actual contents of it.
Now before going any further, the rest of this post is not meant to bash Northwestern. They deserve all of this coverage, as they have won the last three championships.
Keeping this in mind, this article is basically recruiting propaganda for Northwestern. Except for a throw away paragraph at the end about how the bluebloods look down on Northwestern — which even the author admits he understates, the article is all bright and cheery about how Amonte Hiller has resurrected the program.
This kind of feature -- as many Sports Illustrated articles are -- probably was assigned several weeks in advance. As a result, there is no reference to Penn beating the Wildcats two weeks ago. Relevant to the story? Perhaps not.
But considering the article focuses on the rise of a lacrosse program, it'd be interesting if the article had a sidebar on Penn. While not as impressive of a run as Northwestern's -- no one, not even the Quakers, would disagree with that -- Penn has gone from 1-12 in 1999 to 30-3 over the last two seasons. Would it not have been worthwhile to mention that Northwestern is not the only team on the rise?
But then again, this article is on Northwestern, so a Penn side bar could've been distracting. But in addition to this omission, some lines in the article grabbed my attention. Here's the first example:
"…a school nestled in the Chicago suburbs becoming a lacrosse powerhouse is the equivalent of Miami fielding a top skiing program. "
It's true that Chicago isn't a lacrosse hotbed. So this would be applicable except lacrosse isn't based on weather or climate.
But the line that Penn players would hate the most comes earlier in the article:
"…the Wildcats are the odds-on favorite to win a fourth title when the NCAA tournament starts next week."
Northwestern is definitely the favorite. The NCAA Selection Committee admitted as much when it seeded them first. But wouldn't a team that beat them not even two weeks ago have some sort of odds of winning? Well, I actually tried looking for some sort of lines/odds for the women's lacrosse tournament, but I couldn't find any. Yeah I looked up women's lacrosse betting lines. Fortunately Americans aren't that desperate for gambling action. Still I'm sure the Quakers’ odds aren't that bad, nor would the Wildcats' be that amazing.Then again, if everyone is hating against the Quakers and loving the Wildcats, perhaps that is the cause.
The NCAA Division I Women’s Lacrosse Tournament bracket was announced Monday evening. Penn is the No. 2 seed and will face Colgate Sunday at 1pm. Over the next few days I’ll provide some analysis and team reactions to the draw. First was Did the Quakers get shafted? Now up, Will the Quakers see some familiar faces?
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Coaches -- including Penn women's lacrosse skipper Karin Brower -- always preach the sports cliché "let's take it one game at a time." But even Brower sometimes ignores her own advice.
After looking at this year’s NCAA bracket, Brower realized that if the seeds hold -- and judging by last year's two upsets in 15 games, they will -- the Quakers would face the exact same three teams they played in last year's NCAA tournament.
"It's kind of interesting that the bracket is similar in some aspects to last year's," Brower said, "in that we could come across [Boston University] like last year or we could come across Maryland like last year. So that's kind of strange."
The Quakers (14-1, 7-0 Ivy) drew the two seed and will face Colgate Sunday in the first round. The Quakers have only played the Raiders (11-9) twice, tying 1976 and winning in 1978. Clearly the Raiders aren't familiar to Penn. In fact, right after she learned of the draw, Coach Brower admitted as much, saying: "We don't know anything about them. We'll have to prepare for them this week."
The winner of the Penn-Colgate matchup will get the winner of No. 7 Boston University (17-2) and New Hampshire (13-5). And while Penn has never faced the Wildcats, it played the Terriers in the first round of last year's tournament, beating them 11-5. (That was the first ever Penn-BU matchup).
But don't fill in the rematch with the Terriers into your brackets just yet. That UNH team, despite finishing third in the league behind both BU and Vermont, gave BU fits this year. The teams matched up twice, once in the regular season and once in the finals of the America East Conference Tournament. Both times the Terriers only won by a goal. On April 12 the Terriers won 7-6, and then on April 27 they needed overtime to win 9-8. Will the third time be the charm for the Wildcats? By 2 p.m. Sunday we'll know.
If the Quakers make it through the first two rounds unscathed, the top seed they could face would be No. 3 Maryland in the Final Four (played conveniently enough for the Terrapins in Towson, Maryland). And just like the Terriers, the Terrapins lost to the Quakers in the 2007 tournament. (On a side note, if the Quakers do face UMD and BU, they will face the only two D-I women's lacrosse programs whose nicknames start with t-e-r.) Last year, Penn beat the Terrapins in a thrilling 9-7 comeback victory in the second round, despite being down 4-0 early and then 5-3 at the half.
Brower wasn’t the only one to realize the potential repeat matchups. Senior attack Allison Ambrozy also saw the possible rematches and had mixed feelings about it.
“We could essentially be playing the same teams as last year,” she said. “It’s boring a little bit but I also think we have an edge over them since we did beat them last year. We got a sense of their strengths, which is helpful scouting wise. But I personally would rather play some different teams.”
And finally, if the Quakers' seed holds all the way to the National Championship game, and so does the chalk in the top half of the bracket, the team waiting for them will be the Northwestern Wildcats (17-1). The Wildcats and Quakers have faced five times over the last four years. The first four results all were heavily in Northwestern's favor, as the Quakers lost by a combined 55- 20 (including a loss in the Final Four 12-2 last year).
But on April 27 this year Penn pulled off a big upset, beating then-undefeated Northwestern 11-7. If the Quakers and Wildcats were to square off once again in the finals, it'd cement this rivalry as the one of the top inter-conference ones in the nation. Considering by the end of that game four of these teams’ combined six losses over the last two years would've been to the other squad, these two teams are shaping up like the Colts-Patriots. In fact that analogy would be very applicable if the Quakers actually win the championship this year, since the year the Colts won the Superbowl they beat the Patriots in both the regular season and the playoffs.
But enough with football. In addition to teams from last year's tournament, there are three teams in the bracket, in addition to Northwestern, that the Quakers have already played this year: Temple, Princeton and North Carolina. Penn won all of those three games. However, the chances of facing any of the three are unlikely since they'd all involve multiple upsets, and the worst of the three teams, Temple, is the only one in Penn’s half of the bracket.
For the Owls to face Penn, they would have to upset Maryland and the winner of No. 6 Georgetown/Duke. The other two potential rematches, although more likely since they involve better teams, still are unlikely to occur. The No. 8 Tigers or unranked Tar Heels would need Northwestern, No. 4 Virginia and No.5 Syracuse all to lose in order to advance to the championship game.
So while 2008 opponents probably aren’t going show up again, the Quakers might experience some 2007 déjà vu come tournament time.
A Penn Athletics press release earlier today announced that the football game this year at Princeton will be moved to Friday November 7th from Saturday the 8th. (Actually I just read the Princeton Athletics release and it's more detailed). The reason for the change? So it can be aired live on ESPNU. The meeting will be the 100th between the schools.
The Quakers' previous game is Saturday the 1st home against Brown, so the short week should not be that big of a deal. Princeton, meanwhile, will be disadvantaged more by the short week. They play at Cornell on the 1st.
But The Tigers are used to playing under the lights on a national TV audience on Friday night. They beat Brown 17-3 two years ago and Cornell 34-31 last year, both Friday ESPNU games.
This would be the first non-Saturday game the Quakers have played since Thursday October 10 at Villanova in 2002.
What are your thoughts about the change? Post in the comments below.
The NCAA released its Academic Progress Report last week, and it should obviously come as no surprise that the Ivy League dominated the rankings. However, the order might be different from what you would expect.
The Ivies swept the top six spots on the national rankings, in the following order.
1. Yale (28 teams honored)
2. Dartmouth (24 teams honored)
3. Brown (21 teams honored)
4. Penn (20 teams honored)
5. Princeton (19 teams honored)
6. Harvard (18 teams honored)
Then, there's a bit of a drop off...
t16. Cornell (11 sports honored)
20. Columbia (9 sports honored)
Of course, you have to take the report with a grain of salt, as a lot of the rankings depend on the number of sports a school has and fail to take into account understandable reasons for GPA differences (engineering major vs. history major; Engineering vs. Wharton vs. College, Hotel Management vs. School of Agriculture, etc.). The Academic Progress Report really serves no purpose for the Ivy League -- the goal is to improve the LSU's of the world -- but it's still interesting either way.
If you want to peruse Penn's report, you can find the link here.
The NCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse Tournament bracket was announced Monday evening, and Penn is the No. 2 seed and will face Colgate Sunday at 1pm. Over the next few days I'll provide some analysis and team reactions to the draw. First up, Did the Quakers get shafted?
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Everyone's heard of Selection Sunday when the March Madness bracket is announced. But how about Selection Monday?
Well for Division I Women's Lacrosse teams the first Monday in May, not the third Sunday in March, is their big night to find out their seed and draw for the NCAA tournament.
And yesterday, the Penn team sat waiting inside the women's basketball team's locker room (apparently the only Athletics room that gets CBS' CollegeSports TV) to hear who they'd be playing and what seed they'd gotten
In the end, the No. 1 Quakers discovered that despite their top national ranking, they had earned the second seed behind No. 2 Northwestern. They'll play Colgate 1 pm Sunday at Franklin Field.
So did the team get shafted out of the No. 1 spot?
"We thought we'd be a one or a two seed" because of "our record and beating the then-No. 2 team and the team that was No. 1 throughout the whole season" coach Karin Brower said alluding to victories over Princeton and Northwestern, respectively. But "we're happy to be in the top four. No matter where you are you have to play good teams."
The players seemed a little more disgruntled, but they also realized that a two seed -- the highest the team has ever received -- is nothing to sneeze at.
"It was a little disappointing," senior attack Allison Ambrozy said. "It would've been quite a thing to be number one. You know we're number one in the rankings and we beat Northwestern, but having the two spot is not too bad."
Looking at the two teams' numbers, it's not that surprising that the Wildcats got the higher seed. The Quakers do have the head-to-head factor, as they dispatched the Wildcats 11-7 on April 27 at Franklin Field. And they are currently ranked higher in the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll, albeit it by the smallest of margins (213 votes overall including six first-place selections vs. Northwestern's 210 and four, respectively).
But besides those two (important) factors, Northwestern holds basically every other advantage. Northwestern is the three-time-defending National Champion, and while one would believe the tournament committee wouldn't take into account past performance, it wouldn't be a stretch of the imagination if that was an underlying factor. Looking at this year, the Wildcats do have a better overall record (17-1 vs 14-1) and those losses are significant as well. Penn lost to Stanford (12-8), who despite winning its conference and earning the 17th spot in the media poll, did not receive an at large bid (its conference, the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, does not receive an automatic bid). Northwestern's loss is to a top quality program, Penn.
Furthermore, the geeky numbers the selection committee looks at point to Northwestern's edge. Just like other NCAA tournament committees, the women's lacrosse one doesn't openly admit what numbers it looks at and what weight it gives such numbers. However, laxpower.com has a composite summary of important statistics called the "Tournament Selection Index" that maps out seven different numerical values. The TSI then ranks all 85 NCAA D-I programs with the lowest score earning the No. 1 spot. Northwestern is first on that list with -15.75 (again the lower the better). Penn is fourth at -.60.
The categories included are poll ranking, power rating, RPI, SOS, Quality Win Factor, Losses, and a Trend factor. (Read more about TSI here.) NU's power rating is higher (first vs. sixth), NU's RPI is higher (first vs. second), NU's schedule is harder than Penn's (fifth vs. 14th), and NU's QWF is higher (first vs fifth).
So in the end, it's not that surprising that Northwestern is the one seed and Penn is the two. But ironically, being No. 2 might actually help Penn. The NCAA does not seed the bottom half of the sixteen team bracket. Instead, the lower half is assigned to a top-eight seed depending on geography. Hence, just because Northwestern is the top seed doesn't mean they get the easiest first round matchup. In fact, it appears Penn might have that advantage.
Colgate has the worst record of any NCAA participant with an 11-9 overall mark. Their power rating is ranked 44th vs Penn's sixth-ranked one, and they give up over 13 goals a game vs Penn's 6.00 (which leads the nation). At the same time, the Raiders have been to three of the last five NCAA tournaments, something Penn can't claim (this is only its second since 1984).
Northwestern, meanwhile, gets a really tough first round draw. The closest team to them that's unseeded is nationally-ranked No. 10 Notre Dame (12-6). The Fighting Irish probably were the best team to not get a top eight seed. Their power rating isn't that much lower than NU's (11 vs 1). However, the Wildcats did destroy the Irish April 9 16-2. So don't go writing in that upset just yet.
Regardless, facing an easier first round opponent than the Wildcats is the silver lining for the Quakers' two seed.
"I'd rather play Colgate than Notre Dame," Ambrozy said. "And despite being No. 2, we might actually have an easier first two rounds. So No. 2, we can't complain"
Today the Women's Lacrosse team beat Temple 15-2 on Senior Day at Franklin Field, shutting out the Owls (13-6) in the first half. The win puts the Quakers (14-1, 7-0 Ivy) in a great position going into the NCAA tournament, where they're looking to grab the top seed overall. Since the DP won't be publishing until May 16, my game updates in the last post and the following quotes with some commentary will serve as the game recap. You can also see a complete box score here.
Coach Karin Brower on Penn's dominating performance: "We felt we wanted to come out strong and make a statement of how great we can be. I think they took that to heart. And it was senior day and the seniors stepped up and played great in the first half… By the end we had everybody in."
Senior defender Tarah Kirnan on why the defense was untouchable: "[The Owls] were pretty good at cutting and assisted goals, so we just really had to work on defending those all week long… We just came out aggressive."
Senior attack Rachel Manson on the Quakers' motivation: "We were on a mission. We came out today and wanted to play like national champions. We wanted to improve our seeding, so we knew we had to put them away to do so. We really want that top seed."
Brower on getting the team to focus and not look ahead to the NCAAs: "This game was about where we're going to be seeded. If we had lost today we wouldn’t get a top four seed… We want to be a top four seed, so that's our motivation."
With a top four seed, the Quakers will be guaranteed home games for the first two rounds of the NCAAs. After that the the Final Four and National Championship games will be played at Towson University's Johnny Unitas Stadium.
Manson on how the Temple game affects the Quakers’ seeding: "I'd say it was a really important game for us. Obviously beating [then No. 1] Northwestern last week was huge. But we couldn't come out here and take Temple lightly. We needed to win to show people how good we are and to prove to ourselves how good we are."
Kirnan on the same topic: “We wanted to win since we knew that everyone's so skeptical about us getting a number one seed, that if we came out real strong and beat them by a large margin they wouldn't be so skeptical. Getting the number one seed is our main goal.”
Brower on the suffocating defense, including goalkeeper Sarah Waxman: "Our defense is playing really well, and [Waxman] is our anchor. She came up with some saves, but they didn't have a ton of shots. So you've definitely got to give credit to our defense. But she's our rock back there.”
From 2:35 remaining in the first half against Northwestern until Temple's Nicole Caniglia scored with 20:45 left in the second, Penn went an outstanding 71:50 without conceding a goal. And Waxman, a senior captain, did not concede either of Temple's two goals, so she still has an active scoreless streak of 62:52.
Kirnan on the scoreless streak: "It's so great. It makes us feel really good. Earlier in the season we needed to work on our team defense. But we've melded together. The past five games we've just been really strong. It's great going into the tournament having this kind of confidence."
In the last five games Penn has given up five, five, five, seven and two goals. Except for that seven which they gave up to Northwestern, those totals are below their NCAA-leading 6.00 goals-against average.
Manson on the superior defense: "Our defense is just unbelievable. I'm so lucky, the attack is so lucky that we get to practice against the top defense in the country every day. They push each other so hard. And they've just had two outstanding games in a row."
Brower on Manson's two goals and four assists: "She's been the leader of our attack all year. She's a very unselfish player. She did a fabulous job today."
Although Manson led the team in points today, she was far from being the only productive Quaker. An astonishing 14 Penn players earned at least one point, as the Quakers got 15 goals on 14 assists.
Kirnan on the offense taking off pressure from the defense: "The attack controlled the ball pretty well today. They had some really good opportunities and had a high shooting percentage today. The fact that they had the ball down on [Temple’s] end was the game."
The Quakers' first five shots all were goals, and by the end of the afternoon the Quakers had scored 15 goals on 27 shots, 23 of which were on target.
Brower on the senior class: "I think all of our seniors did a great job all year. They've been great all year at leading our team by example."
Kirnan on dominating on Senior Day: "We definitely wanted to come out and win after [the Senior Day] ceremony took almost half an hour. We were like 'there's no way we're losing this now.' We really wanted to win today since it's technically our last home game… We just love this field, we love playing. So it's good to end on a high note."
And as the NCAA finalizes its 16-team tournament field before Monday night's selection show, it'll be hard pressed to ignore this high note for the Quakers.
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