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Penn's Kate Murray surges down the field last night against Delaware. The senior scored two of the Quakers' 12 goals in the Penn victory. [Hsiao-Ying Chin/The Daily Pennsylvanian]

Play until the final buzzer sounds -- the age-old adage that coaches have been preaching to their players for decades. And much to head coach Karin Brower's delight, the Penn women's lacrosse team has been listening. Last night the Quakers scored two goals in the final minute of the first half to spark a dominating 12-3 victory over visiting Delaware. Behind goals by seniors Kate Murray and Crissy Book, the Quakers and Blue Hens had played to a 2-2 tie through the first 34 minutes. "We weren't taking control of the game," Brower said. "Our attack was standing a lot. We weren't really running the plays, we just kind of looked frozen." However, Penn was then brought to life by two goals in the final minute of the first half. Freshman Emily Cochran scored her first collegiate goal with only 48 seconds remaining in the first half, and provided Penn with its first lead of the game, 3-2. Senior co-captain Whitney Horton then tallied a goal a mere 19 seconds later. Her first goal of the season -- and the eventual game winner -- provided Penn with a 4-2 lead as the teams headed to the half. "I think the two goals at the end of the first half definitely gave us momentum going into the second half," Cochran said. "Scoring the goal really helped calm me down, it got some of the nerves out." After seemingly working off the rust that had repeatedly stymied them in the first half, Penn rode the momentum of those two late goals en route to a dominating second half. "Let's play our game and not watch them," Brower told her team during the halftime break. "Delaware was doing a really nice job of sliding into the middle and packing it in and we were playing into that rather than moving the ball quickly." Cochran didn't wait long to get back into the scoring column as she tallied her second goal of the game only 31 seconds into the new half. Murray quickly followed with another goal of her own as the Red and Blue established a commanding 6-2 lead. Delaware's Megan Hager answered for the Blue Hens, cutting the deficit in half and seemingly making a game of what had been quickly turning into a blowout. However, Delaware's attempt at a comeback was soon put to rest as Penn responded by scoring the game's final six goals. Katie Spofford led the charge scoring two late goals for the Red and Blue. Alison Polk-Williams, Chelsea Kaden and Lindsey Cassidy all scored in the second half and Horton scored Penn's ninth goal of the night giving her two for the game. "Finally in the second half we started putting things together," Brower said. "Our attack was moving, we were spreading them out and they couldn't double us quickly. Defensively we did a really nice job the second half, causing turnovers and pressuring." The Red and Blue outshot Delaware 31-12 for the game. Penn's ball control on offense aided its defensive effort. In the second half the Quakers defense only allowed one goal and helped the Red and Blue to dominate in time of possession. "Defensively we did a really nice job the second half, causing turnovers and pressuring," Brower said. Goaltender Alaina Harper also contributed seven saves to the defensive effort.

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