The women's lacrosse team fell to No. 6 Penn, 19-5, in an away game Sunday, leaving the Quakers to win their fourth consecutive Ivy championship.
Going into the game, the Bears tried not to let Penn's national ranking and perfect record, 7-0, against other Ivies affect their play.
"Our game plan was to play our best," said Alexa Caldwell '11. "We've played a lot of top-level teams this season, and we were really excited to play Penn."
But Brown started slow and struggled throughout the first half.
Penn had the first goal of the game with only a minute off the clock. But Brown retaliated a minute later with a goal from leading scorer Kaela McGilloway '12 off a free position shot, her 33rd goal of the season.
Penn then took off, scoring five goals in a row over the course of nine minutes. The Quakers outscored Brown, 7-2, in the remainder of the half. The Bears finished the first half down, 13-3.
"We started the game on our heels," Caldwell said. "At the end of the half we were able to regroup."
The Bears slowed down Penn's momentum in the second half, with stronger defense and a goal each from McGilloway and Caldwell. Though the Quakers outscored Brown by nine in the first half, Penn had just a four-goal advantage in the second.
Of the Quakers' 19 goals, 12 were assisted. The Bears had zero assists in the game.
"We were disconnected on the field," Caldwell said. "Defensively, we weren't playing like a cohesive unit like we normally do, and our communication wasn't as effective."
Despite the disappointing loss, the Bears said they are staying positive and looking to learn from the game.
"Coach says we should use every game as a learning tool," Caldwell said. "Last weekend, from our games against Cornell and Boston College, we learned how important it is to complete the game. From our game against Penn, we're going to take away that we can't get psyched out by a good team."
The Bears will face another tough team when they travel to No. 4 Duke May 9.
"We're just going to play fearless against Duke, because we have nothing to lose," Caldwell said. "We're going to leave everything on the field for the season."
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