PHILADELPHIA – Overtime heroics by junior
Courtney Kenah bolstered the University of Pennsylvania field hockey team to a 2-1 victory over University City rival, Drexel, on Sunday afternoon at Ellen Vagelos Field.
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The Quakers move to 2-2 for the season with their second straight win, while the Dragons slip to 4-2.
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Quaker Notemeal
*Penn venges their 2-1 loss at Drexel, now winning seven of the last eight matchups with the Dragons. The Quakers are 13-7 in the all-time series that dates to 1973.
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*Kenah, who led the team in goals last season with seven, scored her first goal of the season. It is her first collegiate game-winner.
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*Junior
Meghan McGinley scored her second collegiate goal to tie the game in the third quarter. It's the second straight game she has scored.
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*Sophomore
Julia Ryan tallied the assist on McGinley's goal, her second straight game with a helper.
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*The Dragons outshot the Quakers, 13-9, for the game but Penn was more accurate with 5-of-9 on target.
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*Senior
Frederique Wollaert tended the cage for the full 66:47, making five saves.
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How It Happened
The Quakers found themselves playing catchup after the Dragons found the back of the cage with four minutes left in the first quarter to take an early 1-0 advantage. However, that was the last goal the Penn backline surrendered the rest of the way.
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In the third frame, Penn was awarded a penalty corner with a chance to even up the score. Kenah sent an insert to the top of the circle where Ryan made a quick pass to the left side where McGinley was ready to go. Without hesitation, she shoved in a shot through traffic to connect on her second collegiate goal.
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For the remainder of the third and all of the fourth, the two teams swapped shots but neither keeper allowed anything past, sending the game to overtime.
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On several occasions in overtime, both teams had legit opportunities on three different penalty corners.
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Penn had the first shot just a minute in when a deflection by senior captain
Lis Zandbergen went narrowly wide.
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Drexel responded with a corner of its own a minute later, a shot that actually went into the back of the cage. Although the Dragons rushed the field to celebrate, head coach
Colleen Fink used her last video review to have it looked at. The officials deemed it not a goal due to the ball being slightly outside the circle, keeping the game alive.
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The Quakers had another penalty corner opportunity not long after with Ryan's shot blocked a Dragon defender.
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By the 67th minute, the game was ready to be decided. With the ball rolling through the Drexel circle, the Dragon keeper dove out to deflect the ball out of cage area. Without the ball going far, Kenah roped it in and maneuvered past the keeper to shove a shot into the cage for the game-winner.
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Quotables
"Our team played with a tremendous amount of grit and tenacity today. It was a great combination of execution of our principles, playing through mistakes, and fire. Our overtime team did a fantastic job of being poised and patient. A lot of credit goes to Drexel and the speed at which they transition the ball. It was great to see
Gracyn Banks on the sideline again, and I know their program will greatly benefit from her knowledge of the game. We are incredibly excited to get an overtime win against a strong team."
Colleen Fink, Head Coach
"Today's win showed how resilient this group is. We showed grit offensively and defensively and it was a full team effort to come away with a win. We played with a lot of patience in overtime. Julia gave me a great pass that allowed me to get the ball in the circle and get a shot off that found the back of the net."
Courtney Kenah, Junior Midfielder
Up Next
The Quakers hop a flight to Illinois next weekend for a pair of games in Evanston. They'll take on Indiana on Saturday before clashing with No. 3 Northwestern on Sunday. Both times are set for noon.
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