Lack of consistency dooms Penn women's soccer in Hanover

Going into the season, Penn women’s soccer had all the talent, both young and returning, to be a strong force in conference. However, the squad has lacked the consistency to be an Ivy threat.

The Red and Blue traveled to New Hampshire Saturday to take on Dartmouth — Penn looking for its second conference win; Dartmouth, for its first after three ties. The Quakers conceded two goals too many, losing the match 2-0.

Penn (5-5-2, 1-3 Ivy) came out firing on all cylinders, looking more aggressive than they have all year. Coach Darren Ambrose explained Penn’s newfound mentality.

“We changed our system because we’ve got so many injuries,” he said. “We changed the whole system at the last minute, and felt really good about it.”

“We were reasonably good on possession. We made Dartmouth chase it a little bit. We struggled in the final third, which we’ve done all year.”

Dartmouth took the lead on a goal from junior Corey Delaney off a beautiful cross from sophomore Meredith Gurnee from the right side. The pass pierced through Penn’s scrambling defense and found Delaney for the goal in the 34th minute.

“We look like a good soccer team at times — all the aggressiveness, mentality, and competitiveness, but the fire that’s needed in the 18-yard box to defend and in the 18-yard box to score is what’s missing in this team right now,” Ambrose said.

Following the first goal, Penn’s aggression and control seemed to fade away. The Big Green , unsatisfied with the one-goal lead, dominated possession and frustrated the Quakers, gleaning 10 fouls from the Red and Blue, double Dartmouth’s five.

The Red and Blue could never fully recover the pace or the fight with which they began the match, and Dartmouth never sat back on defense.

Just three minutes into the second half, junior Jackie Friedman sent a solid unassisted shot to the back of the net following a failed attempt by the Quakers to clear a Dartmouth corner.

Ambrose gave credit to his squad for its first half fire, yet spoke of a more profound flaw in the team’s culture.

“When your upperclassmen don’t step up and perform at the level they’re expected to, it doesn’t set a great example for our younger players,” he said. “And in turn, the younger players don’t perform to the expectations and standards that go with our program. This year, we’ve seen that.”

The Quakers’ coach displayed frustration with the team’s utter lack of consistency.

“At the moment, we don’t have consistency in performance from anyone,” Ambrose said. “We haven’t really strung anything together on either side. By virtue of our roster, between graduation and injuries, we’re just so young that we don’t have a foothold where the girls can have confidence in their games. They’re not quite sure what they’re capable of.”

One of the most notable storylines from the Quakers’ sideline was the decision to bench reigning first-team All-Ivy goalkeeper Kalijah Terilli and freshman Juliana Provini, who leads the Red and Blue with five points.

“They were decisions we made and thought were appropriate given performance through practices and other things,” Ambrose said. “And that’s what we have to do to send the message to people that everyone’s got standards.”

Penn will look to regroup and find that elusive 90-minute consistency when they take on Yale in New Haven next Saturday.

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