F. Hockey needs win over Elis

As the lone undefeated teams in the Ivy League, all eyes are on Penn and Princeton as the conference season comes down to its final seven days. Ever since Princeton dropped Yale 3-0 three weeks ago, essentially eliminating the Elis from the Ivy title race, both the Quakers and Tigers have been on a collision course toward their Nov. 3 showdown. But there is one not-so-small matter of business Penn (10-5, 4-0 Ivy League) must take care of before Princeton comes to town. While the Tigers sit at 5-0 in the Ivies, the Quakers are a half-game back and need a win at Yale tomorrow to have a shot at an outright conference championship. "I don't think we'll have a problem looking past Yale," defenseman Jessica Gilhorn said. "If anything, we looked past [No.2] Maryland on Tuesday, anticipating Yale." Their non-performance against Princeton not withstanding, the Elis (9-4, 2-2 Ivy League) have one of the most talented teams in the Ancient Eight. If not for Yale's poor outing against the Tigers, Penn very well could be chasing the Elis instead of Princeton. The Quakers have caught Yale at the right time. After jumping out to a 7-0 record, the Elis garnered national recognition and a Division I ranking. But a 3-2 overtime loss to Dartmouth Sept. 30 started an avalanche of problems for Yale. The Elis dropped three of their next five and fell out of the polls. Yale's hopes for an Ivy League championship have dissolved, and thoughts have turned to an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament. However, the Elis will almost certainly have to sweep their remaining four games if a postseason bid is to be secured. During the early streak, the Yale offense was paced by Rookie of the Year candidate Lindsay Hobbs. The freshman forward has racked up a team-best 23 points, second among Ivy League freshmen. Junior Sarah Martinez, the Elis' other go-to player, does not have much more experience than her rookie linemate. After scoring just one goal in her first two years, Martinez has erupted for nine goals and 21 points. "They're really strong down the center," Gilhorn said. "We've got to use our wings more and keep the ball along the sidelines." But recently it has been the Penn offense doing the damage. The senior quartet of Sue Quinn, Kara Philbin, Amy Shapiro and Abby Herbine has been on fire. In the Quakers' last Ivy game, a 6-1 smashing of Brown Saturday, Quinn and Shapiro netted two goals apiece. Philbin scored a goal and assisted on two more, and Herbine added two assists. "We're lucky to get scoring from four players, not just one or two," Gilhorn said. "No matter who's around the cage, someone's going to be able to knock it in for us."