Penn women's soccer suffers first loss of season

There’s a first time for everything, even losing.

Penn women’s soccer struggled to find consistency on either side of the pitch, falling to William & Mary for its first loss of the season, 3-0.

The Red and Blue (2-1-1) came off of a draw against St. Francis (Pa.) on Thursday, a match in which they were leading until the 80th minute. But Penn would not find a lead in its match at Rhodes Field on Sunday afternoon, as the Tribe (4-1-1) set the tone with their early goals.

“The score of 0-3 does not speak to the quality of the match,” coach Darren Ambrose said. “At any time, there are three or four or five girls — upperclassmen too — getting their first few collegiate games. You can’t rush experience; it will take time.”

William & Mary freshman midfielder Rachel Moore drew first blood on a give-and-go from junior Samantha Cordum in the 10th minute, beating Penn junior goalkeeper Kalijah Terilli.

Just four minutes later, Moore sent a curving shot past the diving Terilli for the second goal of the match. It was later ruled a tip off of William & Mary senior Aly Shaughnessy, who ended up being credited with the goal.

Despite a quick 2-0 deficit, the Quakers put forth a quality effort through most of the match. They created a few chances to score in the first half, namely sophomore midfielder Ana Chevtchenko’s shot from 20 yards out that missed the top right corner of the goal by only a foot in the 32nd minute.

This would prove to be the theme of the Penn offense: inspired moments that just lacked a finish.

“We’ve lost Kerry [Scalora], Kathryn [Barth], Laura [Oliver], Claire [Walker] and Brianna [Rano],” Ambrose said. “There are some people stepping into those roles, but again it’s a very different team and persona. It’s early in the season, and I’m waiting for the newer offensive pieces to score. Because once you score one goal, you’ll score your second, then third and so on.”

However, it was defensive missteps that spelled the loss for Penn. In light of conceding three goals, Terilli had 10 saves for the Quakers — a statistic which speaks to Penn’s defensive woes.

In previous matches, Terilli had split playing time with senior goalkeeper Katherine Myhre, similar to the beginning of last season in which Terilli ultimately became the consistent starter.

With the second half came a renewed Red and Blue on both offense and defense. Penn dominated possession and created some promising shots on goal. The defense seemed more in sync, conceding a goal only on a strong diving header to the bottom right corner of the net off of a free kick.

Penn’s youth was on display for much of the match. The Quakers played four freshmen — Natasha Davenport, Erica Higa, Kristen Miller and Juliana Provini — for at least 40 minutes each. On the other end of the spectrum, Ambrose only played three seniors during the nonconference duel.

The team that took the pitch in the second half is one Penn hopes to see more of as Ivy League play approaches.

The Quakers will lace up next on Friday in Richmond, Va. against Virginia Commonwealth before playing in Delaware on Sunday. The squad begins Ivy play in two weeks, taking on Harvard on Sept. 27 at Rhodes Field.

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