The scoreboard read 0:00, but the first half of the Penn field hockey team's game with Temple was anything but over. The Owls had committed a penalty, giving the Quakers one final play.
On the ensuing corner, Rachel Eng found midfielder Kelsey Tahan in the circle. She fired a shot from about eight feet out for her first collegiate goal to give the Quakers a 4-1 lead they never relinquished.
"I had a feeling we were going to score on that goal," Tahan said. "We were really flowing, and I just think it was a huge team effort. Rachel had a great lift. And we had been practicing that, so it was really exciting."
With a three-goal second-half lead, coach Val Cloud was able to empty her bench.
"It's the first time I ever got everybody in the game," she said.
After Penn (4-10, 2-2 Ivy) grabbed a 2-0 lead only 12 minutes into the first half, the Owls struck back 15 minutes later to pull within one. They seemed to have the momentum for the rest of the half, taking several shots on goal and keeping the ball in Penn territory.
The Quakers' defense bent but refused to break when it counted most.
"It seems like the attack always gets the credit," Cloud said, "and I really want to acknowledge my defense. They just came up with some awesome balls. They start our attacks."
Then, junior midfielder Katie Rose struck on a fast break two minutes before Tahan's exclamation point on the half.
It was the first time all season that the Red and Blue scored four goals in a game, let alone a half. They attained their previous season high, three, against Columbia on Sunday.
Cloud and Tahan both attribute the team's recent success to its switch from a 3-3-3-1 scheme to a 3-4-3, with three defenders, four midfielders and three forwards. The earlier setup placed one defender deep in lieu of the extra midfielder.
"With four midfielders, we've been able to be more offensive," junior Katie Burke, a defender, said. "You can just tell by the number of goals we've had the last two games, which I think is probably half the goals we've had all season. So it's awesome. I think we're just connecting finally. It's a team effort now."
Eng finished with two goals in addition to the assist; all of Penn's tallies came from midfielders, highlighting the importance of the lineup shift.
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