PHILADELPHIA – Sara Readinger's header in the 58th minute earned the University of Pennsylvania women's soccer team a hard-fought point to start off Ivy League play Saturday afternoon at Rhodes Field. The senior scored her first goal of the season as the Quakers tied #16 Harvard, 1-1.
Readinger's goal came less than a minute after the Crimson had taken a 1-0 lead in the 57th minute.
Sizzy Lawton led the Red and Blue with two shots, while seven additional Quakers recorded shots.
Quaker Notemeal
*With today's draw, Penn already matches the program record with six draws in a single season. The mark was originally set by the 2015 team that went 6-4-6 overall.
*After scoring first in five straight matches, the Red and Blue have conceded the opening goal in each of their last three matches.
*Penn was outshot by Harvard by a 26-8 margin. The Red and Blue recorded five corner kicks to three by the Crimson.
*
Laurence Gladu made four saves, just one shy of her season high of five against Lehigh.
*Penn became the first team in 2022 to hold Harvard scoreless in the first half.
How It Happened
The first half saw 15 combined total. Penn and Harvard each had a pair of shots in the first 16 minutes, the Quakers'
Paige Kenton being denied on her chance in the seventh minute.
Gladu made her first save of the day in the 16th minute as she directed a ball off target off the foot of Harvard's leading scorer.
With the match still scoreless, and after back-to-back corners for the Red and Blue,
Maya Leschly looked to give Penn a 1-0 lead as her header was right at the keeper.
Early in the second period, Lawton ripped a shot from outside the top of the box that went just over the crossbar and landed behind the goal.
After a pair of saves by Gladu, Sophie Hirst put Harvard in front when she fired a shot from outside the top of the box that just slipped past the extended Gladu and into the goal.
The Harvard lead did not last long, however, as just 50 seconds later Readinger got the right angle on the header off a
Sizzy Lawton cross to tie the match at 1-1. It was her first goal of the season.
In the 64th minute
Anuli Okafor took a ball down the near sideline and nearly gave Penn a lead, as her shot was saved just inside the left post. At the other end, Gladu made a highlight-reel save in the 71st minute to keep the Crimson from taking their second lead of the match.
The Harvard attack kept the pressure on the Penn defense, firing four shots in the final 10 minutes. However, all four were off target and Penn kept its Rhodes Field record intact.
UP NEXT
The Quakers hit the road for their first Ivy road match of the season, as they travel to Ithaca next weekend to take on Cornell. Penn will then have a quick turnaround, playing again just two days later against Fairleigh Dickinson.
#FightOnPenn
