PHILADELPHIA – The No. 24 University of Pennsylvania women's lacrosse team battled Harvard on Saturday afternoon at Franklin Field in the Ivy League opener, falling to the Crimson, 9-8.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Penn edged out the draw control game, 11-10. Anna Brandt and Kaitlyn Cumiskey led the team with three each.
 
*Niki Miles led the team in points with four, all assists, while also posting a game-high four caused turnovers and tied team-high three ground balls.
 
*Kennon Moon and Kaitlyn Cumiskey each had two goals for the game, bringing both of their season totals to six.
 
*Kelly Van Hoesen tended the net for the full 60 minutes, making 12 saves.
 
How It Happened
A quick start for the Crimson had them putting away the first goal of the game over a minute after the first draw, but 30 seconds later Chloe Hunter caught a quick pass from Niki Miles to even the score back up.
 
The rest of the quarter was controlled by Harvard, putting up two more goals to carry a 3-1 lead into the second frame.
 
The script was flipped in the second quarter with Penn coming out with three-straight goals to take a 4-3 lead by the 7:08 mark. Kennon Moon connected with Miles like Hunter did in the first for her first goal of the game and wasted no time adding her second goal several minutes after to tie it up.
 

????

KENNON! Her second of the day ties it at 3 with Harvard in the 2nd Quarter.#SCTop10 // #ILPL pic.twitter.com/sTFvpOff8O

— Penn Women's Lax (@PennWomensLax) March 5, 2022

 
Miles sent out her third assist of the game to Lexi Edmonds, who found the back of the net for her fourth goal of the season and the first lead for the Quakers of the game.
 
The Crimson responded a minute later to tie the game back up at 4-4, which held the rest of the half.
 
Their run continued at the restart, scoring two more goals by the 5:45 mark to take a 6-4 advantage. It wouldn't last long, as Kaitlyn Cumiskey answered with back-to-back goals, including a man-up opportunity to send the game into the final quarter knotted up at 6-6.
 

TIE GAME!

Cumiskey scores her 2nd of the day off a nice feed from Niki Miles!#ILPL pic.twitter.com/Pd48mhqSrv

— Penn Women's Lax (@PennWomensLax) March 5, 2022

 
The fourth quarter played in favor of Harvard for the first eight minutes, finding the back of the net three-straight times to take a 9-6 lead with 2:56 remaining.
 
Penn didn't back down, winning three crucial draws which were followed by goals by Anna Brandt and Keeley Block just 33 seconds apart to get the Quakers within one with 1:24 remaining.
 
Penn called a timeout to draw up the final play to send the game to extra time, and the scene was set with another draw win by Brandt. Unfortunately, an errant pass had the Quakers turn the ball over with 35 seconds remaining. Putting the pressure on, Penn did force a failed clear and turnover by the Crimson but with no time remaining to get a shot off.
 
Up Next
The Quakers start a five-game road trip next Wednesday, taking on Drexel at 3 p.m.