The defending Ivy League champion women’s lacrosse team beat back Drexel 11-8 on Saturday at Franklin Field, their 11th consecutive season-opening win.
Six different Quakers scored in the contest. Fourth-year co-captain Niki Miles, the reigning Ivy League Attacker of the Year, put Penn on the board first via an unassisted goal at the 6:48 mark of the first quarter. Third-year midfielder Anna Brandt, last season’s Ivy League Midfielder of the Year, followed suit with 2:59 on the clock, assisted by third-year midfielder Gracie Smith. Miles added another goal with 37 seconds left in the quarter and the Red & Blue led 3-1 after one period.
Third-year attacker Keeley Block, playing in her first game since 2022, was back in form with a goal at the 12:09 mark of the second quarter, assisted by first-year attacker Catherine Berkery, and another at the 8:16 mark, assisted by third-year attacker Erika Chung. Third-year midfielder Paige Lipman, Miles, and Brandt added three more goals, putting the Quakers up 8-3 at halftime.
Fourth-year midfielder Kaitlyn Cumiskey scored Penn’s ninth and 10th goals at the 6:44 mark of the third quarter and the 13:49 mark of the fourth quarter, assisted by Miles and Chung, respectively.
The Red & Blue held a 10-4 advantage with 13 minutes left in the game, but the Dragons made a game of it by scoring four straight unanswered goals across the next 10 minutes. Berkery became the sixth and final Quaker to score with an insurance goal with 1:34 remaining, sealing the win.
Chung had four points on a game-high four assists. Miles had a hat trick—three goals and one assist. Brandt and Cumiskey had two goals apiece. Fourth-year goalkeeper Kelly Van Hoesen had six saves.
On Saturday at Franklin Field, Penn takes on No. 13-ranked Johns Hopkins. The Quakers advanced to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament last season before falling to No. 2-ranked Boston College, the national runner-up.
