PHILADELPHIA – A late pair of goals—one from visiting Villanova, the second exactly 1:10 later from the host University of Pennsylvania women's soccer team—left the Quakers and the Wildcats level through 90 minutes Thursday night at Penn Park, 1-1.
Penn kept its home record intact (3-0-1) in moving to 4-2-1 overall, while Villanova remains undefeated on the season at 3-0-4.
Quaker Notemeal
*This was the first match Penn has played this season that did not end with a 1-0 scoreline.
*Freshman
Abbey Cook had the Quakers goal, her first as a collegian. Seniors
Paige Kenton and
Madison Liebman were credited with assists on the play.
*Penn outshot Villanova, 11-8, as five different players had two shots for the Quakers: Cook, Kenton,
Megan Lusher,
Isobel Glass, and
Reese Sutter.
*At the other end, senior
Laurence Gladu had a pair of saves between the pipes.
How It Happened
The first half of Thursday night's match was played mostly between the goal boxes, the teams combining for just five shots with none of them on goal.
Things picked up early in the second half. Less than six minutes in, Villanova got a nice chance along the right side but Gladu was equal to the challenge, parrying the shot away from goal.
About five minutes later, Penn had its best chance yet when freshman
Magali Capdevila fired a shot that eluded Villanova goalkeeper Payton Woodward but went just wide.
Villanova went in front with just less than 10 minutes left in the match. Off a corner kick, a scrum in front saw Jackie Richards get it past Gladu and into the goal.
The lead lasted exactly 70 seconds. Penn worked the ball to the right sideline, where Kenton beat a defender and shot a ball across the goal mouth. Cook was there to re-direct it at the six-yard line and it rolled past a diving Woodward's right inside the far post.
Penn nearly found the winner in the dying seconds. A Cook turn and shot was blocked, but the ball ended up on Lusher's foot and the junior fired a shot that Woodward had to make a diving save on to keep things level.
Quotables
"We had a tremendous first half tonight and then played a solid second half. That was a great response after we gave up the late goal. We get better with every game, which is critical with Ivy play being so close now." –
Dr. Krissy Turner, Douglas N. Brush Head Coach of Women's Soccer
"After Villanova's goal, our team continued to apply high intensity. That faith and persistence led us to evening the score so quickly afterward. It felt great to score my first collegiate goal and help contribute to our team's success." –
Abbey Cook, freshman forward
Up Next
Penn is on North Broad this Sunday, kicking off with Temple at 1 p.m. in the Quakers' last match before Ivy League play.
For the latest on Penn women's soccer, follow @PennWSoccer on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.
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