Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 4/21/13
From Press Releases
You want drama? We got drama.
The University of Pennsylvania women’s lacrosse team, playing for the outright Ivy League title, provided plenty of it Saturday afternoon at Brown. The Quakers led exactly once in regulation, after Maddie Poplawski (Springfield-Delco) scored an unassisted goal just 33 seconds into the game to make the score 1-0.
That lead lasted all of 12 seconds.
Penn’s second lead would not come until after regulation had been completed. This time, the Quakers never looked back, scoring two more times in the six-minute extra period to gain a 10-7 victory over the Bears.
With the win, Penn is now 9-4 overall — four of those wins coming in overtime — and finishes the Ivy League campaign at 7-0 for the fifth time in seven years and the first time since 2010. For the seventh year in a row, Penn is the Ivy League champion; for the sixth time in that run, the Red and Blue own the crown outright.
Brown fell to 9-5, 2-4 in Ivy League play.
Tara Rooke’s goal is the one that matched Poplawski’s opening salvo, and that was followed by three more Brown tallies that pushed the Bears in front, 4-1. Bre Hudgins pushed the hosts in front, and then Abby Bunting made it 4-1 wth a pair of goals, the first unassisted and the second off a Hudgins feed.
Penn finally got back on the board with 2:19 left before halftime, Meredith Cain scoring on a free-position shot, and it was 4-2 at the break.
Hudgins made it a three-goal game four minutes into the second half, unassisted, but Tory Bensen matched that with her first goal of the day for Penn. Bunting finished a Grace Healy feed to make it 6-3, but Bensen again scored. Nearly eight minutes went by before Penn finally scored again, Shannon Mangini converting a free-position shot to make the score 6-5.
Bensen tied the game up with 8:58 left in regulation on her third unassisted goal of the day. However, less than two minutes later, Healy scored off a Kasey Wagner feed to push Brown back in front, 7-6.
Penn pushed the play — the Quakers outshot Brown, 15-4, in the second half — and finally drew level again with just 30 seconds left when Mangini scored again.
In the overtime, Penn never gave Brown a chance. The Quakers got Cain’s goal just 24 seconds in to take an 8-7 lead; added an unassisted tally from Mangini with 27 seconds left in the first session; then punctuated the win with a Poplawski goal that neatly bookended this day in the final minute of the second session.
Penn will host the Ivy League Tournament in two weeks; before that, the Quakers head to Northwestern next Saturday to take on the No. 4 Wildcats.
Lafayette 9, Colgate 7
The Leopards went on the road and punched their ticket to the Patriot League Tournament. Lafayette returns to the tournament for the first time since 2004 and will face either American or Navy on Friday, April 26 in the semifinals.
Junior Laura Kleiber came up with three huge goals to lead the game in the scoring department. Classmate Ana White (Strath Haven) chipped in with two goals and an assist offensively, while also picking up eight draw controls and three ground balls. Seniors Addie Godfrey and Jessica Rothstein (Harriton) added a goal and an assist each.
Princeton 15, Dartmouth 13
Princeton finishes the Ivy League season with a 6-1 record after defeating Dartmouth.
The field is set for the 2013 Ivy League Tournament. No. 1 seed Penn will host No. 4 Cornell, while No. 2 Princeton and No. 3 Dartmouth will face off in the second semifinal at Franklin Field. Game times for these Friday, May 3 contests have yet to be determined.
Sarah Lloyd led the Tigers offense with three goals and one assist, while Mary-Kate Sivilli tallied a hat trick. Sam Ellis (Radnor) had two goals and an assist.
