W. SOCCER PRE LEHIGH: W. Soccer has winnable game

and CHRIS FOX The Penn women's soccer team (0-3-1) faces Lehigh (3-5) at Franklin Field tonight (7:30 p.m.) in a must-win situation. Well, it's not quite do or die, but a win sure wouldn't hurt. After struggling through their first four contests the Quakers are searching for that coveted first win against a beatable Lehigh squad. Since this is a non-Ivy League game, the Penn team is optimistic of their chances for success. "There are certain games we're supposed to win," Penn coach Suzette Wolf said. "It's a reasonable goal for us to win every game out of our conference. We have a very legitimate shot at beating Lehigh." Penn comes into this game after being blanked by current Ivy leader Dartmouth, a game that saw the Quakers try an unorthodox game plan in an attempt to contain the multiple stars of a tough Big Green squad. Today the Quakers will have to deal with the Engineers' key player – sophomore halfback Dia Johnson. Johnson, who scored the game-winning goal in Lehigh's previous contest against La Salle, will be a difficult challenge for the young Quaker defense. Handling the defending duties on Johnson tonight will be freshman Heather Herson. "[Last year sophomore midfielder] Heike Krippendorff totally kept her [Johnson] out of the picture until the second half," Wolf said. "We never should have lost that game. If we play her closely, we should do well." The Quakers, not proud of last year's 3-2 loss to the Engineers, are looking for revenge tonight. Shedding the conservative defensive style mounted against Dartmouth, Penn has improved its overall team fitness and is looking to finally showcase its offensive arsenal. However, expectations might run short if the Quakers can't put the ball in the net, a problem that has limited the team to only a pair of goals thus far this season. "We have to work the ball better, finish our shots, and take the goal-scoring opportunities we get more seriously," Wolf said. "We have to capitalize on them." Penn will rely on the sure feet of freshman forward Yuka Morita and sophomore midfielder Kelly Nolan on offense and a surging defense with a now-healthy senior captain Debbie Goldklang back in net. "We deserve to win," junior defender Debbie Greene said. "We're the better team." A Penn team that fields only three upperclassmen and starts six freshmen may find an away game in the Ivy League to be too big a challenge, but the contest against the Engineers should be theirs for the taking. "It's hard because we're so young," Wolf said. "I'm not going to say that we're going to beat a Harvard, Yale, or Dartmouth. A lot of Ivy games are still out of reach for us, but we're playing well in general, and I anticipate a good game." "We're a young team, but we're learning and gaining experience," sophomore defender Meg Kinney said. "Ivy teams are better skilled, and we're used to playing on their level. Lehigh is not the same caliber as the Ivy League. We want to transfer the way we play against Ivy teams onto Lehigh." Tonight's will be on the familiar astroturf of Franklin Field, a clear advantage for the Quakers. But the greatest advantage might be morale, as the Quakers enter this non-Ivy contest without their accustomed underdog role. "Physically, we can play with them," Kinney said. "Mentally, we're on this losing streak, and for our team's sake, we have to win. We want to break it. We don't want to lose again on Franklin Field." "I expect to win," Wolf said. "And I think [the team does] too."

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