W. Lax | Early goals set tone against Drexel, but Penn coach wants more

Junior Ali DeLuca knows that scoring early can give her team the confidence to overcome any first-game jitters.

Thirty six seconds after the Penn women's lacrosse team started its 2009 season, DeLuca received a pass at the top of the crease from Courtney Lubbe to score the game's - and the season's - first goal.

After that it was mostly smooth sailing for the Quakers, who beat Drexel, 10-4, at Franklin Field Saturday.

"I like when we score first because I think it relaxes our attack, and I think it just sets the tone for the game," DeLuca, a midfielder, said.

DeLuca and Lubbe went on to score three and two goals, respectively.

Although DeLuca's early tally provided a spark, Drexel's Katie Blazer quickly returned the favor, scoring at 28:47.

Then, before three minutes had passed, senior Becca Edwards came up from behind the cage to score another Penn goal at 27:21.

From then on the Quakers (1-0) were able to fend off nervousness and keep the ball on Drexel's side for most of the first half.

"We were really calm in the first half and we really worked the ball before we got that first shot," DeLuca said.

At 6:16, Drexel goalkeeper Lauren LaBella had the ball behind the goal when freshman Erin Brennan chased her down, forcing her to pass the ball out from the arc.

Penn took possession of the ball, and as Brennan blocked LaBella's path to the goal, Edwards fed Giulia Giordano, who scored off an open shot to push the score to 7-1 in favor of the Quakers.

"Literally [LaBella] was close enough, so I just wanted to go for the ball," Brennan said. "Luckily [Edwards and Giordano] were there, so it wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for all three of us going for it."

The score read 8-1 at the end of the first half after DeLuca scored her third goal of the game.

Drexel (2-1) scored first after halftime, and Penn followed with two more goals, one from Lubbe and one from Brennan.

Even though the Quakers were able to stay ahead, they had more difficulty keeping possession in the second half.

"There were a little jitters. I think we were better off the first half, and the second half we got a little rattled," Brennan said.

Despite winning 10-4, coach Karin Brower was not satisfied with her team's performance. Specifically, she thought her team forced too many shots.

"I was glad that we came away with a 'W,' but I was not pleased with the team at all," she said. "We didn't play the game that I have been stressing to them about being clean and having good shots."

Penn had 28 shots, 20 of which were in the first half, but only scored ten goals.

While the Quakers saw improvement on last year's 6-5 win over the Dragons, Brower knows that to beat tougher competition, they have a long way to go.

"A 'W' is a 'W', but we have to play good lacrosse," she said.

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