Penn Defeats Stickwomen

The offense that showed weaknesses in Wednesday's opener at the University of Rhode Island just couldn't produce Saturday, as the Harvard women's lacrosse team evened its record at 1-1 by dropping its first home game to Ivy powerhouse Pennsylvania.

The Crimson offense, while hardly overwhelming, proved perfectly adequate in the first half, as the defense held fast under constant pressure from the Quakers. Cover point Cynthia Jensen and third man Chris Sailer displayed fine stick work, but rarely got the ball past midfield.

"The ball was in our end most of the time," senior captain Suki Magraw said yesterday, adding, "They were outplaying us, but they just couldn't score."

The Crimson emerged from its end late in the period when center Ann Velie notched the home team's lone goal, a soft shot that Penn's netminder just couldn't get a line on. The freshman's second tally of the young season gave the Crimson a 1-0 lead at the half.

"We were pleased--the defense was really inspired," goalie Magraw said about the half, adding, "I think it was the best I've ever played."

But the second half was a whole different ballgame.

The Quakers came out fighting, grabbed the opening draw, and brought it down the field to slip one by Magraw.

"I'm not sure what happened--I thought I'd deflected it, but it went into the upper corner," Magraw said.

The Penn offense continued to roll, as the Quakers rifled the cords four more times to put the game away. The visitors sent their defense downfield on offense, repeatedly creating two-on-one situations from the overload and punching short-range shots past Magraw.

And the Crimson offense seemed to roll over and die. One weakness was the absence of scoring menace Sarah Mlezcko, who will rejoin the team shortly.

"The offense now is hesitant--we need go-getters," Magraw said. "Sarah gets hungry for goals--once she gets back we'll be much stronger," she added.

Mlezcko and sophomore Whisty Oppenlander should team up to provide more punch for the Crimson attack, bolstering the major weakness in the Harvard game.

"If we'd played Penn later in the season, it would have been a better game," Magraw said.