Three Up, Three Down | Penn women's soccer vs. St. Francis (Pa.)

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Following an opening weekend in which Penn women’s soccer won two matches, the Quakers (2-0) will look to keep up the good vibes in their home matches against St. Francis (Pa.) tonight and William & Mary on Sunday. Going against the winless Red Flash, the Red and Blue will be heavily favored to win their third straight match to start the season. Here are some of the reasons why this is the case, and a few reasons why Penn needs to be careful not to slip up.

Three Up

Clutch play: To start last season, the Red and Blue notched two 4-0 wins, kick-starting a run that would eventually lead Penn to a 12-1-4 overall record. The road to start this campaign has not been an easy one, with Penn winning both games it has played by only one-goal margins. It took the Quakers overtime to win their last match against Old Dominion courtesy of a goal by freshman Kristen Miller. While they may not have shown dominance yet, this early experience should bode well for the Quakers if it is a close match against St. Francis.

Penn’s defense: When you think of Penn women’s soccer, you should think of defense. Last year, the Quakers featured one of the top statistical backlines in the country. With several difference makers — like back Haley Cooper and keeper Kalijah Terilli — returning, the same should be the case this year. They may have given up an uncharacteristic two goals in their last match, but the Quakers’ defense should stand tall tonight.

Winless opponent: St. Francis is currently 0-6 on the year, not including an exhibition contest it also lost. The Red Flash have been shut out in four of their six matches. To boot, they have been outscored by a combined total of 14 goals. Not to rub it in, but it hasn’t been pretty. This should be a golden opportunity to pick up an early season win.

Three Down

Penn’s scoring: Offense was the Quakers’ Achilles’ heel last season, and it looks like that may be the case once again this year. Despite winning both of their matches, the Quakers have only been able to produce two goal scorers in regular time thus far. Penn will look to its young players — like sophomore Lindsey Sawczuk, who notched a key score against Old Dominion — to provide a spark offensively moving forward.

Conditioning: Penn has played significantly less competitive soccer than St. Francis has to start the season. This will be the team’s third match in five days, with the last having gone into overtime, and the first significant test of its overall conditioning. It will be interesting to see if the Red and Blue have the legs to fight through the fatigue.

NCAA implications: Despite putting up a very strong overall record and impressive team statistics last season, the Quakers were snubbed from last year’s NCAA tournament. This year, they won’t want to take any chances, and a loss to a winless team would not look good on their resume moving forward.