PHILADELPHIA - The University of Pennsylvania field hockey team moved to 3-1 in the Ivy League after defeating Columbia, 2-0. Goals from
Madison Jiranek and
Alexa Schneck gave the Quakers the lead, and excellent defensive play kept the Lions off the scoreboard.
Notes
*Jiranek earned her first points and tallied her first goal as a Quaker after opening the scoring for Penn.
*Schneck scored her career-best seventh goal of the season. She leads the Quakers in all offensive categories with 18 points, seven goals, and four assists.
*Ava Rosati recorded her third shutout of the season, making two saves.
*Karen Seid tallied her first career defensive save with three minutes left to maintain the Quakers' shutout.
*Penn moves to 3-1 in Ivy play, one game behind leaders Harvard (3-0) and Princeton (3-0)
How it Happened
Penn came out in the first half and immediately started peppering the Columbia goal. Schneck forced the Lions' goalkeeper into action with a shot on goal two minutes into the game.
Columbia responded with a shot on goal minutes later, but Rosati was there to make the save. Schneck saw another shot go wide off a Penn corner in the 11th minute.
The Quakers best chance so far came in the 21st minute. Schneck picked up the ball just outside the circle and utilized some fancy stickwork to get past a defender into the circle. Her ensuing shot was kicked out by the keeper. The Quakers recovered the ball and Julia Russo found Schneck in the circle, but her shot was saved again.
Penn finally took the lead with five minutes remaining in the half. Jordyn Thies launched a ball into the circle from the right side of the field to Jiranek, who redirected the pass into the back of the Columbia net.
The Quakers nearly doubled their lead at the end of the half. Erin Kelly sent the ball to Schneck on a corner. Schneck then passed back to Kelly at the near post, but the sophomore's shot went just high of the goal.
Penn lead 8-2 in the shots department at the end of the half.
Five minutes into the second half, Penn extended its lead. Kelly received the ball just outside the circle and hit a deft pass to Schneck, who spun past a defender and placed a shot low and into the left corner of the goal.
Penn continued to attack the Columbia goal. Paige Meily and Julia Russo each had a shot blocked from two separate penalty corners. Schneck got off another shot, but the Columbia keeper was there to make the save.
With just under 15 minutes to go, Columbia increased their offensive tempo. The Lions saw a hard shot go just wide from a corner.
A long pass from the Lions found Emma Domich wide open in Penn's half. Domich charged the Penn goal but Rosati made an excellent point-blank save to keep Columbia off the scoreboard.
With under ten minutes to go, the Penn defense saw its biggest test of the game.
Columbia earned five straight corners and fired seven shots off those corners. The Quakers bore down, blocking four of the shots. The Lions finally beat Rosati on the second corner, but Seid dove in to make an acrobatic defensive save.
Columbia pulled its keeper after the corners, but to no avail. The Quakers enjoyed a spell of possession to end the game and earn their third Ivy League win on the season.
The Quakers return to action on Sunday as they travel to Newark to face No. 18 Delaware at 1 p.m. The game will be Penn's seventh game against a ranked opponent this season.
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