Sands Scores Game Winner at Towson

September 17, 2018

TOWSON, Md. – Emily Sands scored the game's only goal in the 48th minute to fuel the University of Pennsylvania women's soccer team to a road win over Towson on Sunday afternoon.

Kitty Qu recorded yet another clean sheet – the fifth of the season for Penn – to secure a 6-1 record as the Quakers begin Ivy League play on Saturday. Sands' third goal of the season came off an assist from Sasha Stephens when she hammered a ball from the right wing into the junior's feet.

NOTES
*Kitty Qu now has four shutouts – while also sharing the fifth with Ashley Gabor – just one shy of her career high.

*It was Qu's 14^th career solo shutout, a new program record.

*Qu's goals against average sits at 0.46, which would rank as the second lowest all-time. Her .880 save percentage would be third-best.

*Emily Sands has recorded a point in three consecutive games.

*Sasha Stephens picked up her first assist of the season, pairing with three goals for seven points.

*The 6-1 start is Penn's best since 1998.

*Penn has outscored opponents 16-3.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Penn worked the first chance in the sixth minute, but Paige Howard's header floated wide. Kitty Qu was forced into action in the early going, making two saves in the first 15 minutes.

Howard was played in behind in the 16th minute, engaging the Towson keeper in a one-on-one but seemed to get the ball caught up under feet and wasn't able to plant and put solid contact on it, pushing it wide left.

Penn kept the pressure on the Tigers and in the 31st minute, Howard and Emily Sands' two-man game led to Sands driving a ball on the ground across the face of goal but couldn't find a Quakers' feet. Kelsey Andrews, fresh off a two-goal performance against UMBC on Friday, kept the ball in play and Sands got on the end of a ball whipped into the box, but it went wide.

Coming out of the halftime break, Penn broke the deadlock. In the 48th minute, Sasha Stephens hit a laser into Sands' feet and she did the rest, tucking it away in the left side of the net and putting the Quakers up 1-0.

In the next 15 minutes, it looked like the Red and Blue were going to double the advantage. Sands unleashed a left-footed rocket in the 58th minute, but it sailed just high. Eight minutes later, Stephens took on a defender, separated herself enough to get a shot off, but the attempt dragged wide. Andrews also missed wide just after the hour mark.

On the other end, Qu made seven saves, but was relatively comfortable, completing already the fifth shutout of the season for Penn to secure a 1-0 win.

UP NEXT
The Quakers will open Ivy League play on Saturday at Rhodes Field, hosting Harvard at 4 p.m.

#FightOnPenn