Penn Rebounds, Extends Ivy Streak to 32
from press release
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Maddie Poplawski makes a move on a Cornell defender Sunday. Poplawski scored two goals in No. 4 Penn's 10-6 victory, which came four days after the Quakers were stunned by Johns Hopkins. © Kevin P. Tucker |
PHILADELPHIA -- No. 4 Penn figured out its
issues with the start of games, jumping out to a 5-0 lead on
visiting Cornell, but needed three late goals to pull away from the
Big Red for a 10-6 win Sunday.
The win improves Penn to 7-1 overall in 2011 and 3-0 inside the Ivy
League. In the process, the Quakers improved their win streak
inside the Ancient Eight to 32 games.
Erin Brennan and Maddie Poplawski each had two goals in the win for
the Quakers, with Brennan leading all Penn players with three
points.
Penn had the 5-0 lead 12:49 into the game, scoring twice on free
position attempts in the opening eight minutes as Bridget Waclawik
and Lindsey Smith scored on eight-meter offerings. For Smith, the
goal was the first of her career. Less than a minute after
Smith's strike, Caroline Bunting took an Erin Brennan feed and
scored her 10th of the season, doubling her output for the entire
2010 campaign. Just past the ten-minute mark, Giulia Giordano added
a fourth goal for Penn from Tory Bensen and a Shannon Mangini score
at 12:49 gave Penn the 5-0 lead.
The Big Red did not give in, answering with three goals in a row
and six of the next eight total goals in the game to get back
within one at 7-6 with 10 minutes left in the game.
Jessi Steinberg was a big factor in the run for Cornell, scoring
three times while Libby Johnson had a goal and two assists. Katie
Kirk had Cornell's other two goals as the "Big Three" for the Big
Red lived up to their billing.
Brennan scored her first of the day with 6:49 left in the first
half to stop Cornell's momentum for the moment and give Penn a 6-3
lead after Cornell had scored three in a span of six minutes to get
back in the game. In the second half, after Steinberg had scored
early to make it a 6-5 game, Poplawski earned a free position
attempt and connected to give Penn a two-goal lead at 7-5.
Eight minutes after Poplawski's goal, Kirk scored her second of the
game from Johnson to once again make it a one-goal affair. Just
under three minutes later, Brennan drove down the right side and
beat Kyla Dumbach on a beautiful individual effort to add some
insurance for Penn. Alison Tatios followed with 5:06 to play,
finishing off a pretty feed from Giordano behind the cage and
Poplawski ended things with a goal against pressure defense from
the Big Red which featured Dumbach roaming from the crease in an
attempt to cause turnovers.
The Quakers had a 22-14 edge on shots, including a 14-6 lead in the
first half. Emily Leitner was called upon to make five saves in her
seventh win of the season - four of those stops coming in the
second half. A big advantage for Penn was on draw controls where
the Red and Blue doubled up Cornell, 12-6 and a dominating 9-2 in
the first half.
Tatios had four of those draw controls to lead Penn while Poplawski
and Meredith Cain each added three. Lydia Miller had four
groundballs for the Quakers while Bensen and Bunting each had two
caused turnovers. Kate Ivory was a force on defense for Cornell
with five ground balls and three caused turnovers.
The Quakers are off until April 1 when they head to College Park
and No. 1 Maryland -- the defending national champion that knocked
Penn from the 2010 NCAA tournament last May.
