Seniors leave lasting impression

"Night and day." That's the difference between their program now and when they arrived in 1992, according to five senior Penn women's soccer players. In that time, the team has evolved from a sacrificial lamb offered up every weekend to the Ivy League powers to a serious program capable of competing with anyone. Through it all have come this year's seniors, the first four-year letter winners in Penn women's soccer history. The coach from 1991 to '93 was Suzette Wolf. "More of a good college player than a coach," noted forward Amaryllis Seabrooks. Back then practice started around 5 p.m., since Wolf had to arrive from her full-time job as a school teacher. "Before, we were Suzette's little hobby," one senior said. All was not well once the coach arrived, either. Practices, as well as all games, until this season, were conducted on the artificial turf of Franklin Field, a surface about as well suited to soccer as it is to swimming. And then there was the losing. In Penn's first 23 Ivy League matches the Quakers won precisely zero games. Playing in an atmosphere of persistent frustration led some to question whether the sacrifice of time and energy was really worthwhile. "I lost my love for the game...I couldn't deal," said midfielder Christy Mach, who lost her chance to be a four-year letter winner by sitting out the 1994 campaign. Those who did stay remember the effort expended to move the program forward. Things that are standard to other sports, or even to women's soccer at other schools, required extra work for the Quakers. Take practicing indoors during the offseason. "It was hard to get into the Annex?[we had to] sneak in from 10 to midnight sometimes," said Heike Krippendorff, the senior defender who has been a co-captain for the last two years. Then, before the start of last season, things started to turn around. The University decided to accord to the women's game the same respect the men have received for decades. Patrick Baker was hired as the program's first full-time head coach, after another candidate was hired and promptly left without coaching the Quakers once. It was hardly a fairy-tale first season. Wins increased incrementally from three to four, but something more important than the won-lost record was changing. A program, directed toward tangible goals, was emerging from what had been disorganization. For 1995, the University delivered another gift: Rhodes Field and its real, photosynthesizing grass. Never again will the Quakers be caught in the predicament of feeling uncomfortable on their own home field. Then came the victories. This year the Quakers sport an impressive 8-5-2 record, although success has not come without pain for some. Of the original nine members of the class of '96, only Krippendorff, Kinney, Seabrooks and Kelly Nolan have survived the increased competition of succeeding classes to earn four letters. All the seniors have had to accept changes in their roles, including reduced playing time. "They showed so much class and support. I have all the respect in the world for them," assistant Meg Cardie said. None of the Class of '96 can be described as a superstar or a flashy player, but each deserves a more important title: pioneer. It was their determination to make Penn women's soccer grow, for themselves and the new players, that formed the foundation of today's success. "When people look at Heike and Meg Kinney, they think of women's soccer," Baker said. So with just one game remaining, the builders of the program are left to reflect upon what was and what is to come. "I've been dreading the end of this," Krippendorff said. Others feel this year is the perfect end to their collegiate soccer careers. "Look where our class took this program. To know that you started this makes you feel good," Mach said. Whatever the women's soccer program may do in the future, it will always owe a debt to those who suffered through the early years.