F. Hockey looks to score on old friend

There's no doubt that all the members of the Penn field hockey team (2-1) are looking forward to tonight's game against Lafayette (7:30 p.m., Franklin Field) as a chance to avenge Sunday's 2-1 loss to a weaker William & Mary team. But none are more eager to meet the 19th-ranked Leopards ( 4-1-1) than Quaker senior co-captain Franny Maguire. Lafayette goalie Jackie D'Angelo is a high school friend who Maguire has scored on in each of their three meetings so far. "I love playing against Jackie," Maguire said. "We were really close in high school and she's a really good goalie. I'd love to score against her. Every year I've scored against her so far and hopefully, I will again. We both always get really pumped up for the game." Any goals would be welcome considering Penn's inability to score more than once against the Tribe, despite numerous opportunities. The Quakers unleashed 18 shots on goal and had a 7-2 corner advantage, yet they were consistently frustrated by the Tribe defenders. Penn coach Anne Sage feels, however, that the Quakers' offensive inability is not a recurring problem. "I think [William & Mary] just packed the goal," Sage said. "You have to recognize that you have to spread the defense and try another option, and we kept trying to force it in. When you're 2-1 and you've played three good games, it's a matter of getting the job done and recognizing that to create scoring opportunities you have to try some other options." The last line of Leopard defense attempting to prevent Penn from capitalizing on said opportunities will be D'Angelo, who sports a 1.13 goals against average and a .881 save percentage. Most recently, she was tagged for five goals in Lafayette's 5-0 loss to No. 1 Penn State, a future Quaker opponent and a team Penn lost to 1-0 last year. However, she has three shutouts in the Leopards' six games. Lafayette's leading scorer is sophomore forward Jennifer Durkin, who has nine points on four goals and an assist. Compare those statistics to Penn junior Amy Pine, who has eight points in half as many games. Still, Lafayette can put numbers on the board. Witness a 6-0 win over Bucknell last week. And despite the Leopards' loss to the Nittany Lions, they also played to a 1-1 tie against a strong West Chester team. Key to Penn's success against teams like Lafayette and West Chester is capitalizing on penalty corners. Despite having huge advantages in corners this season, the Quakers have been unable to put the ball in the cage. "It's kind of like shooting foul shots," Sage said. "They're crucial because they give you such an advantage. I don't think you can dwell on it. You just have to keep practicing. Hockey's very similar to hitting a golf ball. Some days you're executing, other days you're not." Affecting that execution is this game's position in the Quakers' grueling stretch of five games in two weeks. This game will be Penn's fourth in just over a week. Sage speculated that this may have had an effect on the Quakers. "Three games a week, that took it's toll," Sage said. "They had such a high for the first game and it was such a big win. Human nature is such that playing well the whole season is virtually impossible so you're going to expect an off game or a slump once in a while." To prevent that off game from turning into a slump, Penn will have to try to transform the trauma of losing to an inferior team at home from a distraction into a motivation. Co-captain Maguire doesn't feel like that will be too difficult. "We're really upset that we lost," Maguire said. "I think that we could have beaten William & Mary so I think everyone's going to go out a lot harder [against Lafayette] just to prove that we are a good team."