W. Lax | Lions roar, but Penn tames PSU

After a slow start in its game against No. 17 Penn State - the Nittany Lions scored three early goals - the women's lacrosse team needed a boost.

That's when Becca Edwards took things into her own hands.

With 12 and a half minutes left in the first half, the senior turned the game around: on a fast break she scored the team's first goal off of an Erin Brennan assist.

"It was awesome because we really struggle at fast breaks in general and we really got this one," Edwards said. "It was perfect."

And then just 81 seconds later the Flourtown, Pa., native went on to score yet again.

Buoyed by Edwards, the No. 3 Quakers outscored Penn State 7-3 the rest of the game, beating the Nittany Lions , 9-6, last night in State College, Pa.

The win was the Quakers' fourth straight over Penn State.

The Nittany Lions (4-3) set the tone of the game in the first half with their three quick goals as they dominated the possession of the ball.

"[Penn State] worked our defense really well, and they had a couple of good opportunities that they took advantage of . They put the ball in the net right away to get us in the hole," Penn coach Karin Brower said.

The Red and Blue (6-0, 1-0 Ivy) felt the pressure of the fast-paced Nittany Lions and were left playing defense for up to four minutes at a time.

"We were a little surprised by the strength of their offense and how they kept the ball on attack for a long period of time," Edwards said. "Most teams don't tend to play that type of game against us."

Along with Edwards, juniors Emma Spiro and Courtney Lubbe also scored two goals each.

Spiro's first goal was early in the second half with a lefty shot to the goalie's weak side. Later, she received a ball from Samantha Bird, who was behind the net, and Spiro scored with a low shot.

The Quakers did not pick up the pace of the game until after Brower called a timeout, in which she told her team to calm down and stop forcing shots.

Out of the timeout, Penn won the draw and Edwards put the Quakers on the scoreboard.

"[After the timeout], we were much more patient, and we looked for good opportunities. We weren't rushing it in as much," Spiro said. "We knew we were only down three, and we just scored one goal at a time."

Penn was not able to take the lead until 18 minutes left in the second half when Spiro scored, bringing the score to 6-5.

Despite the sluggish start, Brower was pleased with her team's adjustment to Penn State's style of play.

"It was good for our team to be down at halftime to learn to deal with that because they have not been down before," she said.

The Quakers are feeling good after playing what Brower sees as "the best team we've played" to date.

"I think it was a little close, too close for comfort, but I'm really happy with how we played," Edwards said. "We played with a lot of heart. Even when we were down, we were fighting the whole time to get back into the game."

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