PHILADELPHIA – The No. 24 University of Pennsylvania women's lacrosse team battled past Georgetown on Sunday afternoon, 11-10, at Franklin Field to earn its fifth win of the season.
 
The Quakers shift to 5-3 for the year, while the Hoyas slip to 5-6.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Penn is 9-2 all-time against Georgetown, earning its third straight win on Sunday afternoon. The Quakers are also 4-1 at Franklin Field against the Hoyas.
 
*The game had four ties and two lead changes, with the Quakers taking the last advantage in the final eight seconds of the first half.
 
*Sophomore Erika Chung led the team with four points, all on assists.
 
*Sophomore Anna Brandt had her third straight three-plus goal game and fourth of the season, securing a hat trick to lead the game in scoring.
 
*Senior Niki Miles and junior Maria Themelis each had three-point efforts with two goals and an assist.
 
*Sophomore Paige Lipman found the back of the net twice in the game, the first time she has scored in her collegiate career. She needed just four shots, three of which were on target.
 
*Senior Caitlin Cook and junior Julia Chai each scored a goal to wrap up the six different Quakers to find the back of the net in the game.
 
*Winning the draw game, 16-9, the team was paced by senior Kennon Moon and sophomore Natasha Gorriaran with a combined 11, while Brandt and Themelis each pulled in two.
 
*A stout backline forced the Hoyas into 17 turnovers for the game with 11 caused, led by senior Grace Fujinaga with a game-high three and junior Sophie Davis with two.
 
*Davis also controlled the ground ball game pulling in a game-high five, while Miles added four to the Quakers' 22 total.
 
*Senior Kelly Van Hoesen protected the net for the full 60 minutes, making five saves for her fifth win of the season.
 
How It Happened
The Hoyas were the first on the board in the opening quarter, taking a 1-0 lead over five minutes in. Although Georgetown didn't surrender the lead or trail for much of the first half, the Quakers never let the deficit grow to more than a two-goal differential.
 
Miles answered the opening Georgetown goal with one of her own less than a minute later, but the Hoyas found the back of the net two more times before the end of the first quarter for a 3-1 lead.
 
Cook cashed in on her fourth goal of the season to open the second frame. It was followed by another Hoya finish, but the Quakers came storming back again with two straight to draw the game even at 4-4. Chung sent out assists on both goals, as Brandt and Miles each found the back of the net.

2Q | #24 Penn 3, Hoyas 4

Chung threads the needle and finds Brandt!#ILPL x #FightOnPenn pic.twitter.com/dKHF2D5i4k

— Penn Women's Lax (@PennWomensLax) March 26, 2023

 
Later in the second, the two squads traded goals twice, including Lipman's first career goal on a dish from Chung. The second from the Quakers, a Brandt finish from Themelis, drew the game even one last time at 6-6 while spurring a four-goal run for Penn that lasted to midway through the third.

2Q | #24 Penn 5, Hoyas 5

PAIGE LIPMAN with her first of the year! Chung with her third straight assist!#ILPL x #FightOnPenn pic.twitter.com/M8JpraS4QD

— Penn Women's Lax (@PennWomensLax) March 26, 2023

 
Right before the half, Lipman added her second of the game with eight seconds remaining on a free-position shot to give the Quakers their first lead of the contest that held the rest of the way, 7-6.
 
On the restart, Chai and Themelis added the other two goals in the stretch to push Penn's largest lead of the game, 9-6. Over the remaining seven minutes of the third quarter and the fourth, the Hoyas slowly chipped away at the Penn lead. However, every time they got within one, the Quakers responded with a goal of their own. Themelis scored her second with 8:54 left in the game, and Brandt solidified her hat trick with 4:23 on the clock to kick the lead back out to two, 11-9.

3Q | #24 Penn 9, Hoyas 6

Four straight goals for the Quakers, this time from Maria Themelis! Timeout Georgetown.#ILPL x #FightOnPenn pic.twitter.com/SOMJUEojDA

— Penn Women's Lax (@PennWomensLax) March 26, 2023

 
Georgetown scored one more time in the game with 1:38 remaining to get as close as one, but the Quakers won the critical ensuing draw to run out the clock and earn the victory.
 
Up Next
The Quakers make their second trip to the Sunshine State this season next week, traveling to No. 8 Florida on Saturday in Gainesville. It's the first time the two teams have met in program history. First draw is set for noon.