The Crimson attack bombarded Penn with 16 shots, forcing Quaker goalkeeper Sarah Banks to deal with eight shots on goal—two of which eluded her.

The successful pair came from Baskind, who was precise in her finishing Friday night. The co-captain leads the team with four goals, four assists, and 12 points on the season.

“The team was flying tonight, and [Baskind] just ended up on the end of these [opportunities],” Leone said. “She’s world-class.”

While Penn got off to a sluggish start, from the beginning there was a palpable confidence when Harvard possessed the ball. Despite the wet conditions, the Crimson found ways to send dangerous passes to its forwards, and the midfield forced the Quakers to scramble all over the field in search of the ball.

“The preparation throughout the week was good, but the play was even better tonight,” Leone said. “I thought we were playing slowly until tonight. We weren’t moving the ball like we need to move it, and today we really moved the ball.”

The fast-paced and technical style Harvard has developed this season may be due to the Crimson finally finding cohesion in its lineup.

Thanks to Leon’s preseason shuffling, each and every player is familiar with her teammate.

Not only did Leone play all of his players, but he also tested their capabilities by placing them in unfamiliar roles. A defender one game would play offense the next.

After the testing of so many variables, one might suggest that the 17 players who played on Friday were the ones who had found their niche on the field. But Leone warned that the shuffling is not over yet.

“People are always trying to move into that starting lineup or rotation, and there’s a lot of season left,” Leone said. “Things happen, and you should never be that comfortable thinking, ‘That’s it, I’m in.’ But this was a team performance, and I was excited about how we prepared.”

—Staff writer Brian A. Campos can be reached at bcampos@fas.harvard.edu.