Penn Remains In Contention For An Ivy Co-Championship
PHILADELPHIA, PA. 4/19/2014 – The University of Pennsylvania women’s lacrosse team needed a bounce-back win to stay in contention for an eighth consecutive Ivy League championship. The Red and Blue were defeated at Princeton earlier in the week dropping the team into a first-place tie with their rivals. The Quakers served notice early that they were ready scoring the first three goals of the game in just over ten minutes of play, and cruised to an 12 – 6 win over the Brown Bears on Senior Day at Franklin Field.
“They were hungry for this,” Penn Coach Karin Brower-Corbett said about getting this victory. “We want a share of the title, so very game is important for us. It is still in our grasp to do that. We want another Ivy Championship.”
“We came out today feeling like the stronger team. That was what was missing on Wednesday against Princeton. They wanted it more and had more fight than us. Today, you could tell we wanted it.”
Senior midfielder Lindsey Smith got the Red and Blue rolling with a goal at the 22:21 mark. It was the 14th of the season for Smith. Sophomore midfielder Lely DeSimone followed with a score, her 19th goal of the season, just over a minute later. Another senior attack Tory Bensen found the net on an assist by junior Lindsey O’Loughlin at 19:47. A second goal by Bensen at the 5:30 mark gave Penn a 6 – 1 lead.
“It was the first game that our attack played a full 60 minutes, and that allowed us to come out strong and be confident from the get-go, and carry through to the second half and get the win,” said Bensen
The Quakers took a 6 – 2 lead into intermission. Sophomore midfielder Catherine Dickinson put home her second goal of the game early in the second half to keep Penn in control.
Bensen recorded a hat trick. Her third of the game came at 22:08 and propelled the Quakers to a 9 – 2 lead. Her fourth goal came at 18:10 to give Penn their largest lead at 11 – 3. Along with an assist Bensen has a team-leading 30 points this year and leads in goals with 22. However, she was happy to make this game special for the graduating seniors.
“It was definitely special,” Bensen said. “I was happy with my play, but more than anything it was a full field effort.”
Sophomore attack Nina Corcoran scored twice for the Red and Blue. On the defense end of the field junior Meg Markham caused 6 turnovers, and senior Lydia Miller caused 4. For the game Brown had 17 turnovers to 8 for Penn.
Bre Hudgins scored 2 goals for Brown giving her a team-best 38 goals this season. Attack Grace Healy also tallied twice for the Bears.
Brown goal keeper Kelly Roddy recorded 9 saves and Victoria Holland had a save as both keepers faced 29 Penn shots. Senior Carly Churchill was credited with 2 saves while junior Lucy Ferguson saved 4. The Bears had 16 shots in the game.
Penn (8 – 4 overall, 4 – 1 Ivy) has two more Ivy League contests remaining against Columbia at home on Wednesday, then the regular season finale at Cornell on Saturday, April 26. The Quakers and the Tigers have one league loss. Princeton completed its Ivy slate and will hot the Ivy League Tournament. All that Penn can control is to win and get a share of the title and continue the longest current consecutive championship streak in the NCAA.
“Columbia Wednesday, then it’s on to Cornell,” Brower-Corbett said. “If we win we’re still co-champions in the end. We go to Princeton for the Ivy League Tournament. If we play well, we’ll get another shot at them. Right now it’s Columbia. If we play well and win that game, we’ll be one step closer.”
Boxscore
Notes: It was Senior Day as nine women’s lacrosse team members played their final regular season game at Franklin Field. The Class of 2014 has continued to keep Penn in the fore-front of Ivy Women’s Lacrosse.
“This is a special senior class, and the team wanted to win for this senior class for their last time on Franklin Field as a team,” Brower-Corbett said.
The seniors are Courtney Tomchik, Brittany Swanson, Allie Martin, and Carly Churchill. This class has been special to the program, and still have more to accomplish. They have given to Penn, and Penn has given to them.
“It has meant a lot,” said Miller. “I have grown a lot. It has been the best four years of my life.”
And in the final analysis, that is all that matters.
Written By: Glenn Papazian
Contact: Glenn@PhillyCollegeSports.com
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