Big runs help Penn women's lacrosse pull away from Delaware in season opener

Penn women's lacrosse is picking up right where it left off last season.

After a run to the Round of 16 in last year's NCAA Tournament, the Red and Blue entered the 2019 season seeking to go even further and kicked the season off with a 15-4 drubbing of Delaware, the Blue Hens' seventh straight loss to Penn.

The Blue Hens (1-1) came into their home opener game fresh off a win over Temple, but ultimately posed little resistance to the offensive talent of the Quakers (1-0). 

Four players for the visitors had a multi-goal game, including junior midfielder Erin Barry, who notched a game-high four goals to singlehandedly match the count of the home team. 

Also picking up a hat trick was sophomore attacker Zoe Belodeau, who last year became Penn's first freshman to earn first-team All Ivy recognition. Junior attacker Gabby Rosenzweig and sophomore midfielder Abby Bosco each chipped in a pair of first-half goals to help the Quakers coast to the win.

Meanwhile, Penn's defense, notoriously tough to get through, and did not allow any Delaware player to score more than one goal in the game. 

But the real story was the trio of runs Penn used to put the game away and cut off any momentum the Blue Hens could have had.

It took less than three minutes for the Quakers to get on the board off a shot from sophomore midfielder Elyse Decker. After a 12-minute scoring drought, the floodgates reopened for the visitors, who scored three more in less than a minute to break the game open.

Delaware brought the game back to 5-3 with just over 10 minutes to play in the half before the Red and Blue took off again.

In a run spanning the halftime break, the visitors doubled their goal tally and put the game out of Delaware's reach. The Blue Hens, now finding themselves down 10-3 against the No. 10 team in the country, provided little resistance the rest of the way.

The home side could only muster one more goal before another Penn barrage. The Quakers closed the game on one more 5-0 run, thwarting any last shot at an upset bid.

All in all, the win showcased the Red and Blue's dominance on both ends of the field.

In goal, junior Mikaila Cheeseman had nine saves in the 46 minutes of game time she played. Freshman goalie Krissy Kowalski, who is also a Daily Pennsylvanian staffer, made her debut late and succeeded in holding Delaware scoreless for the final 14 minutes of action. 

Other freshmen to watch include attacker Taylyn Stadler and midfielder Michaela McMahon, who each picked up goals in their first college game this weekend.

On the road until March, the Red and Blue will travel to Baltimore next Saturday to take on Johns Hopkins, who will be looking for revenge after a narrow 12-11 defeat to the Quakers on Franklin Field last season.