F. Hockey is out to defeat the Brown 'giant killers'

The question that faces the Penn field hockey team is which Brown team will show up tomorrow. Will it be the Bears who handed a strong Princeton squad its only Ivy League loss earlier this season? Or will it be the Brown team that gave a weak Yale team its only Ivy win last weekend? Either way, the 12th ranked Quakers' (3-0 Ivy League, 8-3 overall) game against the Bears (2-1, 6-6) tomorrow at Franklin Field (10 a.m.) is the first game of a season-ending four-game stretch that includes Ivy games against the Tigers and Elis as well as a stiff challenge from No. 4 Maryland. If Brown plays its giant-killer role, these games take on a newfound importance. However, Penn has been playing so well of late that no matter how Brown plays, the Quakers seem to have a distinct advantage. Penn isn't taking the game for granted, though. "[The Ivy League] is always competitive," Penn coach Anne Sage said. "I don't think you can underestimate any of the Ivies. We have to go out and play hard, thinking hockey." From one angle, this game is a test of the Quakers' newfound offensive prowess. In its last three games, Penn has scored five goals. Compared to the Quakers' typical 1-0 score of earlier in the season, that's a deluge of goals. In the last two games, against Temple and Cornell, all of the Quaker goals have been scored off open-field play, with sophomore forward Kara Philbin and junior forward Amy Shapiro putting the ball in the cage for Penn. Sage attributes the improved offense to the time the offense has spent together. "I think it's just the game experience they have now," Sage said. "They're playing together more, they're functioning together." But from another angle, this game is a duel between the Ivy League's top goalkeepers. Quaker junior Suzy Pures has yet to allow a goal in Ivy play, and Brown's Tara Harrington has a miniscule 0.29 goals against average. The Penn defense, though, has helped Pures earn seven shutouts on the year, for the best in the Ivies. "We've had a couple really good games," junior defender Mandy Kauffman said. "We kept them spread. We definitely keep improving every game, especially when we play the top teams." Kauffman attributed the improvement to a number of factors. "We're marking better," Kauffman said. "We're picking them up earlier, like when they're at the 25 [yard line]. Also, if we do intercept the ball, we're starting to hit it out right away instead of fooling around with it, so they don't have a chance to get it back." Trying to penetrate that defense will be a Bear offense led by midfielder Jacquie Nicewarner and forward Emily Bottis. They both have 13 points on six goals and an assist. Kerri Whitaker and Joy Somogyi have fed them, with four and three assists respectively. The Quakers haven't really been tested on defense, for they have been controlling the tempo of most of their games so far and are denying their opponents the opportunity to pressure. "[Against] Temple the defense got tested under pressure," Sage said. "But I think again we're controlling the game, controlling the ball. And I think it's a different chapter now, in terms of the four games we have left." One result of this offensive domination is the high number of penalty corners Penn has been compiling. Unfortunately, the Quakers have been unable to convert on these of late. "The goalies are stopping all of the straight shots," said Kauffman, who does the pushing on Penn's penalty corners. "We just can't get it by them. We have to have an accurate push out, we have to have a stop and get a good hit off, and if you don't have those three combined? "It's been a little frustrating because we've been working with the same batteries for two years now. When we practice them they always seem to work really well, but in the games we've been having problems scoring. We just have to get it back together over the last couple games." Now, the Quakers return from their road trip for those last four games, which include the three crucial Ivy contests. Because of that, Penn is as prepared for tomorrow's game as at any time in the season. "It should be a good game but we're taking it like any other Ivy League game," Kauffman said. "They're all really important, because as we've seen this year, they just keep beating one another. Yale beat Brown, which you don't really expect but it keeps happening. You have to be up for every game." Sage agreed, feeling her squad is up to the challenge. "We're very ready," Sage said. "We've had these five away games, and the Fall Break gave us time to rest. We have to go out and set the tone, get the job done, and not worry about the other team. They know what they have to do now. It's just a matter of going out and doing it."