Senior Gabby Rozensweig made history during Penn's win over Johns Hopkins as she became the program's all-time points leader. She totaled one goal and four assists in the team's first win of the season.
Credit: Gary LinThe Quakers entered Saturday looking for a win, but one player achieved much more than that.
Penn women’s lacrosse sealed their first home game of the calendar year with a win, holding the Blue Jays off for a 15-12 victory. In the process, senior attacker Gabby Rosenzweig set an all-time program record for most career points, sealing it with her one-goal, four-assist performance.
Penn looked to be the stronger side from start to finish, and asserted its dominance on its home turf. Freshman midfielder Caitlin Cook fueled the Quakers with four goals in her second-ever game with the Red and Blue, and the attacking duo of junior Zoe Belodeau and sophomore Taylyn Stadler each added a hat trick.
After going behind 2-1 early in the game, the home side ripped six straight goals past the Blue Jays to take a 7-2 advantage. Although Johns Hopkins closed the gap to just one by halftime at 9-8, Penn would never relinquish control of the lead and pulled away in the second half to clinch its second win of the season.
Sophomore Krissy Kowalski, who is also a Daily Pennsylvanian staffer, made 10 saves between the pipes for over 50 minutes, and freshman Kelly Van Hoesen kept the visitors off the scoreboard for the final 10 minutes of play.
But ultimately, the day belonged to Rosenzweig. The four-year veteran broke the record of Sherry Marcantonio, who set the record back between 1980-83.
“It feels really incredible,” Rosenzweig said. “I owe so much to all my teammates and my coaches who have been with me through a lot of ups and downs. I'm just really proud, and it's like the most amazing honor, especially to see my name on the list with a lot of really amazing attackers that came through Penn, who I’ve looked up to for years. So it’s just really awesome, really great.”
Currently leading the team with 13 points from four goals and nine assists, Rosenzweig was overall pleased with the outcome of the game, but that didn’t stop her from reflecting on areas for improvement.
“I think we could have taken care of the ball a little better, and shot a little better,” said Rosenzweig. “We had so many great, great looks. We had a lot of people dodging, which is awesome, and getting to cage. Plus a lot of different scorers, so that's always great. But yeah, we still have a lot to work on, which is really exciting because we can keep growing from here, and I think we're going to probably work on some shooting. But overall, it was such a great fight. No one gave up, and we were able to stay ahead the entire game.”
Coach Karin Corbett was aware of the challenges that would come playing a team like Johns Hopkins (1-2).
“Hopkins is always a good team,” Corbett said. “So I thought that it would be a tough game, for sure, but I'm really pleased that we maintained the lead the whole time. They’d go on a run here and there, but we held it together.”
Corbett was optimistic and positive regarding the team’s growth since last season.
“I think that this group is really responsive to growing, and they want to be good, so they don't mind being challenged,” Corbett said. “They expect a lot from themselves, so you know I think, at times, we’re a tough coaching staff. We have a lot of high expectations for them, because we believe in them, and I think they respond really well, so I'm excited about that.”
Looking forward, the Quakers will face former associate head coach Melissa Lehman and undefeated Rutgers at Penn Park on Wednesday.
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