Commencing Ivy League play at Ellen Vagelos Field on Saturday, the field hockey team foiled Cornell 5-2.
Senior forward/midfielder Alexa Schneck scored a backhanded goal, her first of the season, in the eighth minute to put Penn up 1-0.
Cornell tied the game in the first period, and then took a 2-1 lead moments into the second. Sophomore forward Maddy Fagan scored a goal in the 20th minute, assisted by sophomore back/midfielder Gracyn Banks, to knot the game at 2-2 entering halftime.
The Big Red only got off three shots the rest of the afternoon.
Freshman defender Elita Van Staden scored a penalty goal in the 36th minute of the third quarter to give the Quakers a 3-2 lead. Fagan, assisted by Schneck, scored her second goal of the game in the 44th minute to make it a 4-2 contest. Van Staden, assisted by senior back Laura Shelton, scored Penn’s final goal in the 47th minute of the fourth period.
Van Staden finished with four shots, three shots on goal, and two goals. Fagan had three shots, two shots on goal, and two goals. Schneck contributed three shots, two shots on goal, one goal, and one assist. Senior goalkeeper Ava Rosati had four saves.
Penn’s 13 shots on goal and 14 corners were both season highs.
The Red & Blue’s 2-1 victory over Temple on Sunday was their fifth consecutive win over the Owls. The Quakers outshot Temple 9-1 in the first period, but the Owls ended the quarter with a 1-0 lead. Penn was held scoreless in the first half, and was trailing 1-0 at intermission.
Sophomore forward Madison Jiranek ended the Red & Blue’s scoring drought with a goal in the 34th minute of the third quarter, on an assist by freshman midfielder Meghan Ward.
Fagan scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal in the 55th minute of the fourth period, assisted by junior forward Erin Quinn.
Jiranek had two shots, one shot on goal, and one goal. Fagan had one shot, one shot on goal, and one goal. Quinn had four shots, two shots on goal, and one assist.
Penn had a season-high 23 shots, and held Temple to only three shots on goal.
The 2-5 Quakers play No. 15 Harvard on Saturday, Oct. 5, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and No. 25 Boston University on Sunday, Oct. 6, in Boston.
