Penn Caricatures Stickwomen, 4-0

PHILADELPHIA--The players on the Harvard field hockey team came here to Franklin Field Saturday looking to prove to defending Ivy League champion Pennsylvania--and themselves--that they were legitimate contenders for the league crown.

The Crimson left Franklin Field with a gnawing feeling in its belly--perhaps this won't be a championship year after all.

Pennsylvania got goals from four players--including midfielder Nicolette Phear, who scored the game-winner off a penalty corner four minutes into the contest--and the usually stellar Harvard defense collapsed as the Quakers romped, 4-0, in front of 150 spectators.

Penn (5-1 overall, 2-0 Ivy) scored two goals in each half and got a seven-save outing from goalie Suzanne Gatland.

Harvard (2-2-1 overall, 0-1 Ivy) couldn't muster an effective attack in its league-opener, partly because of the unfamiliar artificial turf.

Crimson goalie Denise Katsias--who had allowed an average of just one goal per game before Saturday--recorded 20 saves, but surrendered four goals for only the second time in her collegiate career.

Penn Punch

"There is no way they are four goals better than we are," Crimson Co-Captain Gia Barresi said. "We just didn't have any punch."

Harvard, with quick forwards Cindi Ersek, Kate Felsen and Nicole Simourian, was looking to use its speed on the artificial turf. But Penn proved to be a masterful turf team, often flipping past the Harvard defense and bombarding Katsias with shots.

Quaker forward Donna Berk slammed a loose ball past Katsias with 10 minutes left in the half to give Penn a 2-0 lead.

And in the second half, Carrie Vesely and Michelle Carlin added goals to bury the Crimson.

"It's our first Ivy League game," Barresi said. "If we can't get up for our first Ivy League game, what can we get up for."