W. Soccer tries to rebound

For about an hour, Patrick Baker stood by the goal post and watched. He never screamed. He never yelled. He just watched. The Penn women's soccer coach watched yesterday as his team repeated the same drill over and over again in preparation for tomorrow's game at Cornell. The Quakers scrimmaged for more than an hour trying to remedy their mistakes from Tuesday's 3-2 loss against Villanova. "Tuesday was frustrating," Baker said. "But we look at it and say, 'Hey, we beat 'Nova 1-0 in the second half.' " "We've got to focus on three different things -- the back four pressuring tight and the front runners playing closer together –– they have to be within 20 to 25 yards of each other. We also felt we didn't get the flank players all that involved against Villanova. We just have to continue working on the things that make us successful." "We're working on our strength in the air and using our outside halfbacks and midfielders, and utilizing more space," junior co-captain Meg Kinney said. Despite Baker's detailed agenda, the Quaker coach remains as positive as ever for tomorrow's game against the Big Red. "The more they play, the more they're able to read the game better," he said. "[Cornell has] two or three very good players -- one that sweeps, one in the midfield, one up top." Penn (0-2), comprised only of freshmen, sophomores and a few juniors, is vying for its first win this season, and will head to Ithaca having played only two games together as a team. "We're a young team and every game we've gotten better," freshman Darah Ross said. "We're just going to keep getting better with time." As long as the Quakers continue to get better and make an impressive showing, Kinney will be satisfied. "I'm hoping to be able to walk of the field with my head held high," Kinney said. "It's a long trip to make and play poorly." Whether the Quakers will win remains to be seen, but one thing is certain -- Baker will not send an unprepared Penn team to Cornell . "He comes out with a game plan," Kinney said. "He saw what the weaknesses were, and we worked on them."

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