PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania women's soccer team picked up its first win of the season, and the first under Head Coach
Casey Brown, on Sunday night with a 2-1 victory over George Mason. The match was the Quakers' home opener at Rhodes Field.
The Red and Blue (1-0-1) responded to an early 1-0 deficit, putting two away off a career-high two assists by junior
Sizzy Lawton. Mason (0-4-0) saw the game sway out of its favor in the 70th minute when senior
Mia Shenk sent the game winner into the back of the net.
Quaker Notemeal
*Sophomore
Lauren Teuschl has registered at least a point in the first two games of her collegiate career, recording an assist against Temple on Friday and then the first goal against Mason on Sunday night.
*Senior
Mia Shenk's finish is the second game winner of her career; the first came back in 2019 at Delaware State.
*Lawton's two assists set a new mark for a single game in her collegiate career. In her first season in 2019, the junior had one assist to go with three goals through 14 games.
*Sophomore
Laurence Gladu earned her first collegiate win between the pipes, making three saves.
*The Quakers and Patriots had nine shots each with Penn leading the way with a 5-4 edge in shots on target.
How It Happened
The two squads put together several attempts in the opening 20 minutes of the match, the first one coming from Mason in the seventh minute that Gladu easily pulled in. The Quakers responded with three of their own, including two that ended up getting blocked inside the box.
In the 22nd minute, the scoring silence was broken in favor of the Patriots. A Penn foul awarded Mason a free kick on the right side of the field outside of the 18. A high-lofted kick into the middle of the box was redirected off the head of Dacheka Kolcum just past Gladu's outstretched gloves for a 1-0 GMU lead.
It took less than three minutes for Penn to draw level on a connection between Lawton and Teuschl. With room down the left sideline, Lawton made her way to the end line where the sent a low cross into the middle of the box to an open Teuschl, who sent a liner into the right side of the net.
Penn had two more opportunities before the end of the half, as sophomore
Ginger Fontenot and junior
Emily Pringle put both on target. However, the score held at 1-1 through 45 minutes.
A tight battle in the second half only saw one shot find the back of the net, in the 70th minute. After subbing into the match just six minutes prior, Shenk found herself at the right spot at the right time. Lawton, with room again along the sideline, dribbled the ball to the end line and drew the defense toward her. Lofting the ball to the back post over the keeper, she found Shenk for a wide-open shot and game winner into the right side of the net.
The defense held strong in the closing 20 minutes, only giving up three shot attempts from the Patriots with just one on target that Gladu reeled in.
Up Next
Penn is back at Rhodes Field on Thursday, hosting Illinois-Chicago (UIC) at 6 p.m.
Please click here for spectator information regarding Thursday's match.
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Gallery: (8-29-2021) Women's Soccer vs. George Mason
