Penn Leaves Cornell with 2-0 Road Win

October 3, 2018

ITHACA, N.Y. – The University of Pennsylvania women's soccer team traveled to Ithaca, N.Y. and left with three points behind second-half goals from Emily Sands and Allie Trzaska to defeat Cornell 2-0 on Saturday evening.

Sands, who matched Kelsey Andrews with a team-high four goals, has come through when the Quakers need her most; all four of her goals have resulted in game winners.

NOTES
*The 7-1-1 start is the best in program history

*Penn is undefeated on the road, moving to 3-0 this season; Penn is 4-0 away from home thanks to a neutral site victory over Delaware.

*Scoring first has been fruitful for the Quakers, improving to 7-0 when doing so.

*Penn nearly doubled Cornell's shot output (17-9) and is now 6-0-1 when outshooting its opponents.

*The goal was Emily Sands' fourth of the season, matching Kelsey Andrews for the team-high.

*All four of Sands' goals are game winners, tied for the most in the Ivy League.

*Kitty Qu recorded her sixth solo shutout of the season, tied for the sixth-most in program history. The shutout was also her 16th of her career, extending the program record.

*In nine games, Penn has secured a remarkable seven clean sheets.

*It was the fourth consecutive shutout for the Quakers, racking up 360 straight minutes without conceding.

*Allie Trzaska scored her first goal of the season, adding to her five assists. The senior has now scored in all four seasons of her career.

HOW IT HAPPENED
From the outset, Penn controlled possession. Through the first 10 minutes, the Quakers had registered all three of the shots in the contest, but without any real clear-cut opportunity.

After 20 minutes passed, the pressure was officially on. Katharine Larson hit a shot in the 20th minute, but Cornell keeper Meghan Kennedy was up to the task. It was the first of three saves Kennedy was forced to make in a three-minute stretch. Emily Sands unleashed a shot in the next minute and then Megan Lloyd steered one on target in the 23rd minute.

Toward the end of the opening 45 minutes, Breukelen Woodard began to flex her muscles. In the 35th minute she got on the end of a corner kick, but her header pushed wide. Just two minutes later, she was going at defenders, taking them on one-on-one before drawing a foul just outside the penalty area. Camillia Nwokedi took the free kick, but rifled a bullet just high. At halftime, Penn led 10-3 in shots.

The Quakers have gotten into a habit of starting second halves with a flurry; Saturday was no different. Sands played Kelsey Andrews in behind toward the end line and Andrews cut it back across the goal mouth, but couldn't find anyone. A few minutes later, in the 52nd minute, Sasha Stephens beat her defender, gained a step and hit a ball on target but Kennedy made the save.

In the 58th minute, Kennedy was forced off her line to punch a ball away. The rebound landed on Emma Loving's foot and she quickly hit a shot that beat Kennedy but was saved off the line by a Cornell defender.

One minute shy of the hour mark, though, Penn finally earned its breakthrough. Sands brilliantly guided the ball to Andrews near the center of the park. Andrews worked the ball out wide to Loving who took on her defender and found the end line. She cut it back across the box and Sands delicately flicked it on goal, pushing it past Kennedy to give Penn the 1-0 lead.

It looked like Penn would settle for a 1-0 road victory, but in the 82nd minute, Jadyn Wilensky whipped a ball in from near the left corner flag that found a leaping Trzaska who headed it into the far corner, doubling Penn's advantage.

Stephens created another chance with just five minutes left, but she hammered the ball just high.

Qu made three saves to secure the seventh clean sheet of the season for Penn, completing a 2-0 road win.

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