Penn field hockey holds on for back-and-forth 3-2 victory against Brown

After a rough stretch of games, all it takes is stringing together a couple of wins to create a whole new atmosphere.

That’s what happened for Penn field hockey (5-6, 2-2 Ivy) this weekend when they traveled to Providence, R.I. to take on Brown University (6-8, 2-2). The Quakers had lost three straight against Princeton, Syracuse, and Harvard before picking up a win at home against Cornell last week, and they kept its momentum going in the Ocean State.

Penn opened the scoring with two goals in the first quarter, each within the first five minutes of the game. Junior midfielder Meghan Ward scored in the second minute off of an assist from sophomore forward Lis Zandbergen, and two minutes later junior forward Julia Russo took the ball herself to score unassisted.

From that point on, the scoring would halt for both teams until the fourth quarter, when freshman midfielder Courtney Kenah brought the Quakers’ lead to 3-0, tipping junior defender Elita Van Staden’s pass into the cage for her first career goal. 

The Bears would manage to make the match close in the final minutes, notching a goal in the 51st minute and scoring on a penalty shot with 15 seconds left on the clock, but an otherwise solid game from sophomore goalkeeper Sabien Paumen secured the win for the Red and the Blue. Paumen notched nine saves on 18 shots, 11 on goal, even withstanding the 11 penalty corners awarded to the Bears.

The Quakers have historically had success against the Bears, as this weekend’s win pushed its head-to-head win streak to double digits. Penn is now 15-2 against its rivals from Rhode Island, having not lost since 2010. 

With their latest win, the Quakers have now climbed to an overall record of 5-6, and reached a .500 record of 2-2 in the Ancient Eight. Next week, they will take on Yale at home at Ellen Vagelos Field for the team’s “Pink Game,” in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.