Perfect run ends vs. Penn

Though its offense scored the goals — including five consecutive ones in the first 10 minutes of the second half — it was Penn’s defense that clinched the victory. Waxman shut down the Tigers’ electric offense, stopping eight of Princeton’s 18 shot attempts.

The loss not only put an end to dreams of an undefeated season for the Tigers (10-1 overall, 4-1 Ivy League), it also hurt Princeton’s chances at an Ivy League title.

“When you’re undefeated, in a lot of ways it’s harder going into games,” senior attack and captain Ashley Amo said. “A lot of people hadn’t been in that situation before — we were ready for the game, but we just didn’t take it. We had 100 percent expected to win.”

Penn (11-1, 6-0) dominated time of possession in the first half, and scoring opportunities were few and far between for both sides. The Tigers struggled for shots early and turned the ball over on their first two possessions. To make matters worse, junior defender Marine Graham rolled her ankle and had to be helped off the field with 24 minutes, five seconds remaining in the first half.

Penn finally broke the deadlock with 18:50 left in the first period. Quaker midfielder Kaitlyn Lombardo found an open Rachel Manson in front of the goal, and Manson snuck the ball over sophomore goalie Kaitlyn Perrelle’s right shoulder for the goal and a 1-0 Penn lead.

Princeton nearly leveled the match at 16:12, as Amo set up junior midfielder Holly McGarvie beautifully in front of the net, but the shot went just wide. Thirty seconds later, Amo kept the ball, powering from behind the net and scoring from a tight angle.

McGarvie nearly gave the Tigers’ the lead with 13:15 left in the half, but Waxman stonewalled her from close range. Penn took the lead with 12:33 left, when midfielder Ali Deluca made a long run from outside the goal area before beating Perrelle to the goalie’s left. With a minute to go in the half, Deluca found Melissa Lehman in front of the net to give Penn a 3-1 lead before halftime.

The Quakers continued to dominate the field after the break. Two-and-a-half minutes in, Manson took two steps from her free-position opportunity and bounced a shot in. Less than a minute later, a defensive mixup saw the ball bounce away from Perrelle, and Manson pounced on the opportunity to put the ball in the exposed net.

“[In the] second half, we didn’t make a stop on their offensive plays,” Amo said. “Our defense got it taken to them throughout the game, and our offense didn’t really help them out too much.”

Briefly showing some control over the game, the Tigers put an end to Penn’s streak when junior midfielder Katie Cox bulldozed her way through the Quaker defense to score the Tigers’ second goal. A Princeton comeback seemed possible, especially after junior attack Christine Casaceli worked her way to the net and passed to Cox for a low goal just a minute and a half after Amo scored.

Any hopes of an upset, however, were quickly put to rest when Deluca scored her third goal of the night, with 13:41 left on the clock.

“It was a tough game,” Amo said. “Our shots were pretty bad tonight — myself included — and it was hard being out there without three of our starters. But it was just one game … If you look at all the top teams, they’ve all lost a game. We just need to move on and put it past us.”

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

Despite McGarvie’s free-position goal 9:53 in and a shot by sophomore attack Kaitlin Donovan that bounced in with a minute left on the clock, the night ultimately belonged to the Quakers.

Last night was simply one of those games where it seemed as if Princeton couldn’t do anything right, and Penn just could do no wrong.