No. 15 Towson downed at home by Penn women's lacrosse

A five-game winning streak is quite a feat. But when one of those wins is on the road against a ranked team, the streak looks that much better. On Saturday, No. 17 Penn women’s lacrosse continued to erase any doubts about the team’s ability to contend when they traveled to Baltimore and took down a talented Towson squad, 7-4.

There was no tit-for-tat in this game, just a decisive momentum change — in Penn’s favor — that took place near halftime. The No. 15 Tigers (6-2) took control of the game in the first half before relinquishing all momentum to the hungry Quakers (6-1).

With just over a minute left in the first half, the Tigers had control of the game, leading 4-0. Coach Karin Corbett credited the first-half deficit to myriad factors, the snowy atmosphere notwithstanding.

“I think that our backs weren’t moving well. We weren’t attacking their zone. We weren’t moving the ball quickly. We weren’t driving. We weren’t cutting. We were getting beat on draws and ground balls and that’s a lot of grit and a lot of fight ... that’s going to win a game today in the weather that we had,” she said, noting that the team answered the call in the second half.

At the 29-minute mark, the Red and Blue did indeed answer the call, finding the back of the net, courtesy of sophomore attack Alex Condon. With that goal, Condon opened the floodgates for her team. Those floodgates would remain open for the last 30 minutes of play.

The Quakers came out of the intermission with a flurry of offense that resulted in five consecutive scores from the team’s bench — a second goal from Condon, two from senior attack Catherine Dickinson and one from junior attack Sarah Barcia.

Junior midfield Emily Rogers-Healion and senior attack Nina Corcoran would add the team’s sixth and seventh goals, respectively, in the second half onslaught.

To further underscore the impressive nature of the Quakers’ attack, the six second-half goals were the second-most goals that the Tigers have let up in a half this season. Heading into the weekend, Towson’s defense ranked third in the nation in goals against per game, with an average of just over six per game, making the Quakers’ six-goal half all the more impressive.

Perhaps just as impressive was the fact that Penn’s defense stymied Towson’s offense, limiting the Tigers to two shots in the second half. Over the course of their five-game winning streak, the Red and Blue have not conceded more than eight goals in a contest, which has helped to take a lot of pressure off of the offense. Corbett recognized that the team took over possession in the second frame and this mistake-free play kept them in the driver’s seat.

“We caused several turnovers. We put a lot of pressure on them in transition. They were struggling a little bit in transition with turnovers,” Corbett said. “We defended the ball a lot more. We won some more draws in the second half [than in the first half].”

The Quakers now work on a short week and must prepare for the reigning national champions and current No. 1 Maryland Terrapins (6-0) on Wednesday night. The two sides will butt heads under the lights at Franklin Field at 7:00 p.m.

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