PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania field hockey team looked like it was down and out, behind 2-0 as Friday's Ivy League opener reached the midpoint of the third quarter.
However, the Quakers got a goal from
Allison Kuzyk and that was the start of a stirring comeback as they scored the game's final three goals and stunned their guests, 3-2, on Ellen Vagelos Field.
Penn improved to 3-4 overall while Yale fell to 2-5.
Quaker Notemeal
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Allison Kuzyk had Penn's first and third goals on Friday afternoon, both of them coming off direct shots from penalty corners. She has now scored in three straight games and four of the last five and leads the Quakers with five goals.
*Penn's other goal was off the stick of senior
Lis Zandbergen, her first of the season after she recorded her first point in 2023 last weekend at Northwestern.
*Penn outshot Yale, 22-16, with Kuzyk taking a game-high nine (five of them on goal). The Quakers also held an 8-6 advantage in penalty corners.
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Sophie Freedman—who was playing against her twin sister Julia—had three shots on Friday while
Julia Ryan and
Meghan McGinley each had two.
*At the other end,
Frederique Wollaert made five saves on the day and got the win.
How It Happened
Yale got on the board in stunning fashion with 3:30 left in the first quarter. Penn had two shots on goal off a penalty corner, but Yale was able to get the ball out to the left side. Emma Ramsey sent a long ball down the field, where her older sister Lily Ramsey ran it down, turned into the middle, and popped a shot that deflected off a Penn stick and high into the goal over a prone Wollaert.
The Bulldogs doubled their lead early in the third. Playing from the top line, a Colette Staadecker ball from the right side was nicely crossed to the front of the goal, where Poppy Beales beat her Penn defender and tipped a shot that went past Wollaert's right side.
Penn got back within one at almost the exact midpoint of the third quarter. Off a penalty corner,
Courtney Kenah passed the ball short to Kuzyk who rifled a shot from just inside the circle that beat Bulldogs keeper Luanna Summer between her legs and bounced into the goal.
The tying goal came with a little more than eight minutes left in the fourth. Off another penalty corner, McGinley had a look that was stopped by Summer. The ball landed at Zandbergen's stick, and she turned and swiped a shot that found the back of the goal and knotted things up.
The winning goal, which came with just 1:25 left, was a near carbon-copy of the Quakers' first. Off yet another penalty corner, Kenah passed short to Kuzyk who once again fired it directly home. This time her shot was just inside the far post, beating Summer's left leg by inches.
The ending had some drama, the Bulldogs getting a penalty corner as the clock expired. However, Yale was unable to get a shot off and the final whistle blew to set off a wild Penn celebration.
Up Next
Penn is back at home on Sunday, hosting No. 13 Saint Joseph's at noon. Sunday's game will be the Quakers' annual Gold In September contest as they continue to work toward beating childhood cancer.
#FightOnPenn
