F. Hockey's road woes continue

The sight was all too familiar for the women on the Penn field hockey team.

They were on the road. They had high hopes. They fought hard. They lost by one goal.

The heartbreaks keep coming for the Quakers, who fell to Columbia in overtime, 1-0, Friday night in New York.

This was the second overtime loss for Penn this season and its sixth loss by one goal. Five of those one-goal defeats have come on the road.

"We hung in there so long," Penn sophomore forward Courtney Blenheim said.

Not long enough, it seemed.

With 9:30 to go in the first overtime, Columbia senior Tina Fernandez' shot was saved by Penn goalie Carrie Wilhelm. But the rebound came right back to Fernandez, who proceeded to score the game-winner.

"We were just as strong as they were, and worked really hard on all sides of the field," Blenheim said. "They just scored first."

This dagger to the Red and Blue gave Columbia (4-4, 1-3 Ivy League) its first win in the Ivies and stripped Penn (3-8, 2-1) of its undefeated record in the Ancient Eight.

Penn put the pressure on Lions goalie Molly Starsia-Lasagna early on. Led by Aparna Wilder's four shots on goal, Penn outshot Columbia, 9-1, in the first half.

But Penn couldn't put one past Starsia-Lasagna, as she made four saves in the first half en route to nine on the evening.

"[Our inability to score] was very frustrating," Blenheim said.

In the second half, the Lions seemed to steal the momentum, outshooting the Quakers, 9-5. Columbia had a chance to win on a corner with 30 seconds left, but was unable to convert.

Columbia's momentum poured over into overtime, as the Lions outshot the Red and Blue, 4-0. Despite recording two of her seven saves during the extra period, Wilhelm was unable to get in the way of Fernandez' unassisted game-winner.

Penn hosts Georgetown tonight at 7 p.m., at Franklin Field.

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