W. Lax crushed by No. 3 Loyola

(Penn - 3, Loyola - 17)

The Penn women's lacrosse teamcontinued to struggle yesterday, losing its fourth straight game. Loyola sprinted past the Quakers, 17-3.

Loyola, currently ranked No. 3 in the country, upped its record to 5-1 on the year. The Greyhounds only loss so far this year came to No. 2 Princeton, who at the time was No. 1 in the country.

The loss to Loyola sent a wake-up call to the Quakers (2-4).

"I definitely can't say we were expecting a game like this," Penn junior goalkeeper Alaina Harper said. "The game has really shown us that we need to get back to the beginning."

Harper finished the day with a season high 24 saves.

The Greyhounds dominated play from the beginning, jumping out to an early 4-0 lead. As play continued, so did the Quakers' woes, leaving them down, 10-0, at the half.

The Greyhounds were led to victory by senior attacker Stacey Morlang and sophomore midfielder Jaclyn Borrone.

Morlang, the 2001 Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Year and first team All-American, netted four goals and handed out two assists for Loyola.

Borrone chipped in three goals of her own -- all in the first half.

The Greyhounds' attack slowed slightly in the second half, as Penn was able to muster three goals.

Penn senior attacker and quad-captain Jenny Hartman opened the scoring for the Quakers in the fourth minute of the second half by netting an unassisted goal.

Junior attacker Kate Murray added another goal for the Quakers eight minutes later.

And attacker Traci Marabella -- another senior captain -- tallied Penn's third and final goal just one minute after Murray scored.

Marabella's goal made the score 13-3.

The Greyhounds refused to call off the dogs, however, going on to finish the game by scoring four more goals.

Despite being defeated handily, the Quakers still felt they could have defeated the Greyhounds.

"At the start of the season we came out with two great wins," Harper said. "There is something that is missing now. If myself or my teammates knew what that was exactly, I don't think we would have lost today."

The Quakers are hoping to find that missing this piece and to turn up their level of play before this weekend.

"Today's game hurts," Harper said. "We never want to feel that way again."

Saturday afternoon will give the Quakers an opportunity to improve their mood. Penn will welcome Columbia to Franklin Field on Saturday afternoon. Last year, the Quakers easily defeated the Lions, 13-5.

"This weekend will be a big game for us," Harper said. "We need to direct all of our attention towards focusing on them."

Yesterday's loss -- though tough to handle for the Quakers -- carried added significance.

"This game counts for more than just a loss," Harper said. "Today was a tremendous learning experience, and we need to use it as a building block for Columbia this weekend."

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