PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania field hockey team came back once, twice, three times in Sunday's game against No. 13 Saint Joseph's at Ellen Vagelos Field. However, the Hawks scored a fourth with a little less than four minutes left in the second overtime period and escaped University City with the 4-3 victory.
Penn fell to 3-5 with the hard-luck loss, while the Hawks won their fourth in a row and improved to 8-2.
Quaker Notemeal
*
Frederique Wollaert tied her season high with 11 saves on Sunday, some of them of the spectacular variety.
*Junior
Courtney Kenah had Penn's first goal, her second of the season.
*Senior
Allison Kuzyk had the Quakers' second goal, giving her three this weekend, five over the last four games—she has scored in all of them—and a team-high six on the season.
*Sophomore
Philine Klas—who missed all of last season due to injury—scored her first collegiate tally.
*Senior
Lis Zandbergen led Penn with two shots, putting both of them on goal.
How It Happened
Saint Joseph's got on the board just 3:20 into the game. Off a Penn foul near midfield, Maaike Gorissen drove the ball into the attacking zone and fed Celeste Smits on the left side in the circle. Smits pushed a cross to the front of the goal where Leigh James was waiting to re-direct it past Wollaert's left pad.
Penn tied it shortly before halftime. Off a penalty corner,
Meghan McGinley had a shot that was blocked by an onrushing Saint Joseph's defender. The ball came back to McGinley's stick, and her second chance was re-directed into the goal by Kenah.
SJU pressed the action early in the third and was rewarded for its efforts near the period's midpoint. The Hawks had consecutive corners and were awarded a penalty stroke amidst a scramble in front of the goal on the second. Lily Santi stepped up and flipped a shot over Wollaert's right shoulder and into the netting for a 2-1 lead.
Penn's resilience continued to be on display, and late in the third Kuzyk found the equalizer. With the Quakers on the attack, the ball popped out from the end line near the right post and onto Kuzyk's stick. She was facing away from the goal but took a backhand swing that found the inside of the far post.
The Quakers were victimized by another penalty stroke call four minutes into the fourth quarter, and for the second time in the half Santi stepped up to convert and put the Hawks in front. This time she pushed her shot to the right side, past Wollaert's left pad.
But once again, Penn had an answer. The Quakers got another short corner with a little more than eight minutes left. This time Kenah sent the ball to the top of the circle, where
Julia Ryan set it and Klas rifled a shot inside the right post.
Wollaert had a nice stick save in the first overtime to keep things scoreless, and the teams went through the first 10 minutes without anything being decided. However, the Hawks pulled out the win with a little less than four minutes left before strokes when they countered and pushed a long ball down the right side of the field that Sol Borensztein ran down. She then beat a pair of defenders, took the ball to the end line in the circle, and crossed into the middle where Gorissen finished it off.
Quotable
"We have grown so much each game, taking important lessons away. From our Northwestern loss last week (especially in the third quarter) we learned that when you play tough teams you may have to play predominantly defensively, but you have to be resilient and give yourself the chance to win by capitalizing on the opportunities you do have. That served us well this afternoon. I also was proud of how we battled adversity with the weather and showed a relentless pursuit toward our ultimate goals."
Penn Head Coach
Colleen Fink
Up Next
Penn is back into Ivy League play for its next three games, starting next Friday when the Quakers travel to Columbia for a 4 p.m. battle with the Lions in New York City.
#FightOnPenn
