W. Lax | Still undefeated - barely

Yes, they still are undefeated.

Forty two seconds into overtime Penn women's lacrosse senior attack Becca Edwards received a pass from freshman Erin Brennan and scored the winning goal against Dartmouth to give the Quakers' their 11th - and most exciting - win of the season.

"I knew I was wide open as soon as my girl dropped off to go to the ball," Edwards said. "I was kind of cherry picking, because I knew if we got it, I'd be one-on-one with the goalie. So as soon as Erin picked up the ball, I just called for it, she saw me, and it worked out."

The play topped off a back-and-forth afternoon of lacrosse as the No. 2 Quakers held on for the remainder of overtime to beat the No. 13 Big Green, 7-6, Saturday at Franklin Field.

Although the Red and Blue (11-0, 5-0 Ivy) were able to pull out a win in the end, Dartmouth (6-4, 3-1) put up a fair fight. In fact the Big Green drew first blood, scoring a goal three minutes into the game.

But the competition's real strength came from in front of the net.

"They did a really good job of scouting us, and their goalie [Julie Wadland] played great," Penn coach Karin Brower said. "I was really impressed. She's the best goalie we've seen all year."

The junior from Andover, Mass., saved 12 of Penn's 19 shots on goal.

"Their goalie was awesome, so we started off a little rough with our stats, but once we started placing the ball and shooting around her, it was good," senior defense Hilary Renna said.

At 22 minutes into the game junior Ali DeLuca put the Quakers on the scoreboard. The Big Green were never able to get ahead after DeLuca's goal, but every time the Red and Blue took the lead, Dartmouth was right behind them to tie up the game.

Along with DeLuca, junior Emma Spiro chalked one up for the Quakers, and senior Samantha Bird scored twice. Penn entered halftime tied at 4-4.

Even though it was cold and raining, the fans were more pumped up than ever. A slippery field combined with the roaring sideline made for an intense game.

"They're a physical team, so I think we got a little physical back, so it was a little more aggressive than our normal style of the play," Edwards said. "And the rain and sloppy conditions made it a little more difficult than usual."

One minute into the second half, DeLuca gave Penn the lead again with her second goal, off a free position shot. But shortly after DeLuca's tally, Dartmouth tied the game at five.

At 9:37, after having her shots blocked all day, Brennan finally came through with a key goal for the Quakers. Dartmouth was doubling DeLuca, so she dished the ball to Brennan, who caught the ball across her body, adjusted, and netted the Quakers' sixth goal.

What looked like a potentially game-winning goal was soon countered by Dartmouth, which scored at 7:04.

But that didn't faze Penn.

"I wasn't really worried at any point," Renna said. "I knew we were going to pull it out and win, so we just had to come together and do it."

And with the help of Brennan and Edwards, the Quakers clinched the win, despite receiving the toughest challenge yet from an opponent during their program-record 11-0 start.

"I'm really proud of the team. They played with a lot of heart, and that's what it takes to win a close game like this," Edwards said.

"I think that our kids showed a lot of maturity," Brower added. "It's our first overtime game this year, and they did a really, really nice job of handling that."

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