Box Score COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The University of Pennsylvania women's lacrosse team dominated its first-round game in the NCAA Women's Lacrosse Championship at Maryland's campus on Friday afternoon, topping #21 Army, 16-6.
 
Catherine Berkery had a stellar outing, tallying a career-high eight points including the 100th of her career. With the win, the Quakers will play weekend host Maryland in the second round on Sunday at noon.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Goalkeeper Orly Sedransk was a force in her cage, tying her career high with 14 saves in the game.
 
*Anna Brandt, Keeley Block, Regan O'Brien and Gracie Smith scored two goals each to even out the multi-goal scorers in the game.
 
*Senior Block passed out a team-high three assists to go with her two goals.
 
*Maggie Bankowski won eight draw controls against the Black Knights including the 100th of her collegiate career.
 
How It Happened
The Quakers had their foot on the gas from the start, with senior Brandt and sophomore O'Brien netting two goals each to give Penn a 4-0 lead midway through the first quarter. The Black Knights cut the run not even a minute later with their first of the game, but Catherine Berkery responded by putting the battle at 5-1 to end the first-period scoring.
 
Penn did not let up its momentum to open the second, as the offense netted five straight goals, with Berkery scoring back-to-back to score a hat trick, followed by Smith, Block, and Patrica Columbia-Walsh's first of the outing to bump the lead to 10-1 with 6:02 left of the first half. Two minutes later, Army scored its first of the period to slash the run, but 30 seconds later, Erika Chung responded for Penn. The Black Knights scored in the final 15 seconds of the second to cut the hole to 11-3 heading into the break.
 
Army opened the third-period scoring five minutes in to put the deficit at seven goals. The next goal of the contest did not come until the 6:13 mark of the third when the Black Knights netted another off a free position shot to put the score at 11-5. Within the final four minutes of the third, Army continued its run with its third-straight goal to cut Penn's lead to six going into the final period of regulation.
 
The fourth went back in Penn's favor as Chung dished to Berkery for her fourth goal of the day two minutes in, pushing the game to 12-6. Berkery then tallied her fifth goal of the battle with 11:33 left in regulation. The Quaker offense could not be stopped as Block, Smith, and Brandt all scored in the final eight minutes to put the battle at 16-6 and secure Penn's spot in the NCAA second round.
 
Up Next
The Quakers (11-6) take on sixth-seeded Maryland for the second time this season on Sunday in the NCAA second round at noon in College Park, Md. Penn defeated the Terps during the regular season, 13-12, and won the last time these teams played on this field, 13-9 in 2024 when UM was the top-ranked team in the nation.