PHILADELPHIA--The No. 2 Quakers had all they could handle with No. 13 Dartmouth, but Erin Brennan's pass to Becca Edwards in overtime gave Penn the win. Penn remains undefeated at 11-0 and one win closer to an Ivy title at 5-0 in the league.

The first three-minute overtime period featured a number of opportunites for both teams, but it wasn't until the last minute of the period that Dartmouth turned the ball over sending it skipping into the midfield. Brennan muscled control of the ball and looked up field to Edwards whose defender had been lured to the ball at midfield. All alone, Edwards sprinted towards the Big Green's Julie Wadland and fired, while the rest of Franklin Field held its breath.

With the one-goal advantage, the Quakers held control for the majority of the remaining time, grinding out the last 42 seconds of that period and the next three-minute frenzy to come away with a crucial Ivy win.

The Quakers trailed for five minutes and nine seconds after Dartmouth (6-4, 3-1 Ivy) netted the first goal of the day on an eight-meter shot. With eight minutes expired, Erin Brennan set up Ali DeLuca who spun around her defender and evened the score. Penn pulled away to a 3-1 lead, but two goals from Katherine Chuisano and a free position goal from Kat Collins set the score even at four-all. Senior Samantha Bird netted two goals in the half for Penn.

DeLuca scored on a free position attempt just over a minute into the second half, but another Dartmouth goal tied it up with under 16:46 left to play. DeLuca and Brennan combined again with the freshman picking up a sharp pass from behind the cage and crashing the goal.

Dartmouth would not go quietly and knotted the score at 6-6 thanks to an Eliza Bennett goal at 7:04. Junior goalkeeper Emily Szelest came up big for Penn in the final minutes saving a free position shot and regaining possession for Penn. The Quakers held the ball for a last shot, but three attempts were either saved or wide of the cage, forcing overtime.

Another major Ivy game is just around the corner for Penn when No. 7 Princeton comes to town, Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. A win against the Tigers would clinch a share of the Ivy League title for the Quakers.

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PHILADELPHIA - The #13 Dartmouth women's lacrosse team gave undefeated #2 Penn all it could handle at a rainsoaked Franklin Field today but ultimately fell 7-6 in overtime.

It was certainly the closest anyone has come all season to beating Penn. No team has taken Penn (11-0, 5-0 Ivy) to overtime this season and the closest game the Quakers had played to this point was a 9-6 win over Penn State. While six goals scored was a season-low for Dartmouth (6-4, 3-1 Ivy), the seven tallied by the Quakers was also a season low.

This marks the second overtime loss against a #2 ranked team for the young Dartmouth squad, which fell to then #2 Maryland, 13-12, on March 18. "This game solidifies that we can play with anybody in the country but we have to find a way to win these close games," said head coach Amy Patton.

Possession was the name of the game and the Quakers kept the Big Green on defense for more than half of the game, outshooting Dartmouth 28-11. The Green's defense led by sophomore Shannie MacKenzie (Greenwich, Conn.) did a solid job interrupting Penn's shots and forcing quick takes. Junior goalkeeper Julie Wadland (Andover, Mass.) was the anchor of it all, putting forth a tremendous 12-save effort while grabbing five ground balls and two caused turnovers.

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2009-04-11