PHILADELPHIA, PA 3/30/2012 – For the University of Pennsylvania women’s lacrosse team to defeat the third ranked Maryland Terrapins they would have to play their best game. The team would need to be efficient on both ends of the field. Penn did not play that type of game. The Red and Blue made too many mistakes and were defeated 14 – 6 by Maryland at Franklin Field.
“What hurt us is turnovers, we had 15,” said Penn Coach Karin Brower-Corbett. “We throw the ball away on easy things. It’s not like them causing a lot. We stare down the pass and they intercept it, chucking the ball to nobody, throwing it out-of-bounds, things like that.”
“If we don’t solve the turnovers, it’s going to be the story of our season.”
The Quakers committed too many turnovers as they had 16 for the game compared to 7 by Maryland. Penn had difficult time on offense in getting the ball as Maryland had a 14 – 8 edge in Draw Controls. The combination of not getting the ball off the draw, then committing turnovers allowed the Terps a 37 – 17 advantage in shots on goal. A positive for Penn that kept the game within reach was the play of Senior goal keeper Emily Leitner who made a career-high 16 saves.
“Emily Leitner had a great game,” said Brower-Corbett. “She played out of her mind. She had 26 saves, 6 ground balls, 4 caused turnovers. Without her the score would have been a nightmare. All of those saves were huge saves. She just played great.”
The game got away from Penn in the second half. Trailing 8 – 5 with 24:12 left to play the Quakers gave up 6 straight goals to put the game out of reach. The Red and Blue came into the game at a disadvantage in not having Junior midfielder Maddie Poplawski who missed the game with a concussion suffered in the previous game at Cornell. Corbett expressed what the team did not have without Poplawski on the field.
“Maddie Poplawski being out really hurt us,” said Brower-Corbett. “She is really good on the draw, great in transition for us, she is out top midfield defender.”
Senior attack Erin Brennan led the team with 3 goals and an assist. Brennan leads the team with 33 points, 17 goals and 16 assists. Junior midfielder Meredith Cain and Junior attack Caroline Bunting scored a goal. Freshman attack Lindsey O’Loughlin scored her first career goal.
Maryland attack Karri Ellen Johnson scored 4 goals. Attack Kristy Black scored 3 goals, midfielder Katie Schwarzmann had 2, and attack Alex Aust had 3 goals and 6 assists.
Penn is 5 – 3 on the season. The Quakers are still in first place in the Ivy League. Despite the loss Brower-Corbett believes tough games like this one should be a learning experience for her team.
“We have a young team and play a hard schedule,” Brower-Corbett said. “Against some of the teams we can make a mistake and survive the mistakes we are making. They (Maryland) make you pay for them. I hope that we can learn from that, and we can start to clean it up.”
Written By: Glenn Papazian
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