Penn Women Wrap Up Ivy League Bid
by Justin Feil | Special to Lacrosse Magazine Online | Game Blog
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Penn freshman Meredith Cain carries the ball up the field Sunday during Penn's 9-8 win over Dartmouth in the inaugural Ivy League conference championship game. © Greg Carroccio/Sideline Photos |
PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania women’s lacrosse team made it official, as the regular season champions earned the Ivy League’s automatic berth to the NCAA tournament with a 9-8 win over Dartmouth in the inaugural Ivy tournament championship Sunday.
“It was a great experience,” said Penn head coach Karin Brower Corbett, whose team beat Princeton in the semifinals Friday night, 13-9. “It really is a great preparation for the NCAA tournament and having to play Friday-Sunday in that format. If we’re lucky enough to get to the final four, I think this will definitely help us.”
While Dartmouth showed its youth with some early nerve-induced turnovers, the Quakers never panicked even after a big Dartmouth run made it a thrill ride to the finish.
“When we have been close or been behind,” said Penn senior Emma Spiro, “we really as a class and as a team have remained calm, and I think it has helped us pull it out in the end.”
The Quakers stretched a 5-2 halftime lead to 7-2 on goals from Spiro and Maddie Poplawski barely three minutes into the second half, but Dartmouth responded with five straight goals and tied it on Kat Collins’ goal with 17:57 left. Penn stayed calm behind its senior leaders.
“When you win a lot, you have that pressure on you, and all of a sudden the game starts to turn the other way,” Corbett said. “You can easily start to panic and see your dreams go down the tubes. We kept stressing to them that they have to remain calm.
“Even if they’re a little nervous inside, whatever they show outside is what the rest of the team is going to play off of. No matter what they’re feeling, they have to show confidence and calmness and they’ve done a great job of that.”
Penn retook the lead barely a minute later when sophomore Erin Brennan fed Megan Smith on a free position, and Poplawski, a freshman, added her biggest goal of the season on a free position shot with 11:11 to go. The Quakers defense allowed only a free-position goal from Dartmouth’s Kirsten Goldberg with 5:16 left, then worked off the final frenzied four minutes to wrap up the win, the 31st straight over an Ivy opponent to send the seniors out unbeaten in four seasons.
“We won the Ivy League four years straight, and we didn’t want to settle for that,” said Spiro, the Most Outstanding Player after scoring three goals Sunday. “It’s great that we’re known as the first class and the first team to win it. I think it’s a great way to go into the tournament.”
Poplawski and Smith added two goals apiece and Ali DeLuca had two assists for Penn. DeLuca cited the team’s calmness under pressure as an extension of Corbett’s coaching style.
“Karin gives us a little bit of a reality check,” DeLuca said. “Even when you feel like you’re starting to panic, she definitely brings a calmness to the huddles.
“That’s definitely something she brings. We need that from her.”
Julie Wadland kept the Big Green in striking distance in the first half with seven saves. The senior goalkeeper ended up with eight.
“She ignited our team in general,” said Dartmouth head coach Amy Patton. “She kept us in the game. She saw a lot of point blank shots. I don’t think she could have played any better.”
Penn had a 5-1 lead after Spiro’s second goal of the game, but Collins gave the Big Green some life with her first goal of the game. The junior attack, who made her return to the Big Green for the Ivy tournament after missing eight games with a leg injury, finished with three goals. Kirsten Goldberg and Sarah Plumb each had a goal and assist, but the Big Green had to use a lot of energy to come back from a first half that saw them turn the ball over 11 times while Penn won 6-of-8 draw controls. Penn had a 15-2 shot advantage in the first half.
In the second half, Patton moved Courtney Bennett in to take the draw, and Plumb sparked the Big Green by winning a pair of possessions. Dartmouth held a 6-5 edge in draw controls in the second half.
“I was really pleased with way we battled back and showed a lot of character,” Patton said, “but we needed to needed to continue to play inspired as we got that momentum. My hat’s off to Penn. They really battled back hard.”
The Quakers switched goalies midway through Dartmouth’s run, inserting little-used sophomore Emily Leitner for senior Emily Szelest. Corbett explained afterward that Leitner had looked better against 8-meter chances in practice this week.
“She knew it was a possibility,” Corbett said. “They always have to be ready to go in.”
After Dartmouth tied it, 7-7, Penn won the ensuing draw and Brennan was awarded a free position. Instead of shooting against Wadland herself, Brennan fed Smith on the doorstep for the go-ahead goal. Poplawski, who had been stopped on another free position minutes earlier, then scored the game-winner on another free position.
After the Big Green pulled back within one goal, their chance to tie went by the wayside when Collins was whistled for a charge after she fired high over the net.
“The games that you have that are close, you need those games to prepare for other situations you may see,” DeLuca said. “We knew we couldn’t take them lightly, and when we had a five-goal lead, they could always come back.”
Dartmouth did, but Penn stayed calm to secure the first Ivy tournament trophy and another trip to the NCAAs.
