CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The No. 23 University of Pennsylvania women's lacrosse team hit a 10-1 stretch in the second half on Saturday, rolling past Harvard in an Ivy League clash in Cambridge, 16-13.
Â
The Quakers move to 4-2 overall and remain atop the league standings with a perfect 2-0 tally, while the Crimson shift to 2-5, 0-2 in Ivy League play.
Â
Quaker Notemeal
*Senior
Niki Miles paced the offense with six points on four goals and two assists for six points. She took nine shots for the game, seven on target.
Â
*Sophomore
Anna Brandt matched her career high in goals, finding the back of the net five times in the game.
Â
*There were 11 Quakers that registered a point in the game, including the first goal of the season for
Julia Chai.
Â
*Junior Katelyn Cumiskey had a three-point effort on two goals and a an assist, while
Erika Chung,
Kennon Moon, and
Maria Themelis chipped in two more points each.
Â
*Junior
Sophie Davis led the backline for the Quakers, causing a game-high two turnovers to go with a tied team-high three ground balls.
Izzy Rohr and
Aly Feeley also had three ground balls.
Â
*At the draw, Penn put on a dominant performance, 24-9. Moon pulled in a game-high eight, while Brandt and Cumiskey each secured five and
Natasha Gorriaran added three.
Â
*The Quakers nearly had a perfect clear game, going 19-for-21.
Â
*Back in the net, senior
Kelly Van Hoesen put together a six-save outing through 60 minutes of work.
Â
How It Happened
The Quakers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the game, while holding the Crimson scoreless for the first eight minutes.
Anna Brandt started her scoring frenzy for the day with the initial goal, catching a nice dish from freshman
Patricia Columbia-Walsh just 39 seconds into the contest.
Â
Moon followed several minutes later, but Harvard responded with two straight to draw the game even again by the 5:23 mark. The Quakers didn't surrender the lead the yet with Brandt adding her second off a pass from Cumiskey to take a 3-2 advantage into the next quarter. However, much of the next frame was a heavy turn to the Crimson, scoring three straight by the 3:05 mark to take a two-goal lead.
Â
With two minutes left in the half,
Paige Lipman connected with Chung to cut the deficit to one. Then, on a great defensive stop on a Crimson clear in the closing seconds, Feeley brought the ball up in transition quickly where Themelis pulled in the pass and fired off an eight-meter shot with five seconds left to tie the game up, 5-5, at the break.
Â
Out of the restart, Cumiskey put away her first goal of the game to retake the lead for Penn, but Harvard answered with three straight goals to push ahead to its largest lead of the game, 8-6.
Â
The Quakers used that stretch to fuel their fire, as Miles went on a tear the rest of the game that started at the 8:08 mark of the third. Her first goal and point of the game kicked off a 10-1 scoring frenzy for the Quakers where she contributed on six of the finishes. She scored four times and an added two assists, as Penn blew the game open by the 10:07 point of the fourth, 16-9. Brandt also scored three times in the stretch, while Cumiskey, Themelis and Chai scored the last three of the run.
Â
In the closing 10 minutes, the Crimson held the Quakers scoreless and found the back of the net four more times to get as close as three, but Penn pushed too far ahead for any type of comeback.
Â
Up Next
The Quakers return home for the first time since the home opener on February 18 for a pair of non-conference matchups next week. They'll host No. 11 Maryland on Wednesday evening (5 p.m.) and Georgetown on Sunday (1 p.m.) for their annual OneLove game. Both games will take place at Franklin Field.
Â
Â
#FightOnPenn
