W. Lax rained out, looking ahead to Harvard

The Penn women's lacrosse team anticipated playing one of the nation's most rigorous schedules, but this is ridiculous. Through its first three games, the Quakers (1-2) have battled top-five teams twice and inclement weather twice. Penn lost its games against No. 5 Loyola (Md.) and No. 4 Temple, and Mother Nature evened up the season series yesterday afternoon in Bethlehem, Pa. The Quakers, who had been able to complete their match against Loyola a week earlier despite thundershowers in Baltimore, were rained out of their match against Lehigh yesterday. Penn had been looking forward to its first non-conference game against a non-national powerhouse. "We had a lot of things we wanted to try out, and Lehigh would have been a good team to get the kinks out against," Quakers senior midfielder Alex Brill-Edwards said. "Hopefully, they'll reschedule the game." Penn's next test comes Sunday at noon against Harvard at Franklin Field. Penn has won its only Ivy League matchup so far this year, a 10-9 victory over Cornell. The Quakers had a 10-5 lead at one point in that game, but allowed the Big Red to score the last four goals. Penn, which spent much of yesterday watching tapes of the Temple game, had hoped to use today's game as preparation for Harvard. But the Quakers feel they are ready to take on its Ancient Eight rival anyway. "It would have been nice to have another game before Harvard and we definitely could have beaten Lehigh, but we had a good practice indoors today," senior midfielder Jessica Gilhorn said. Harvard, a traditional lacrosse powerhouse, is trying to rebound from a 20-4 pounding at the hands of No. 2 Princeton. "I've heard that Harvard's not the team they used to be, but they're always tough," Gilhorn said. "They're not as quick and physical as a team like Temple. But they're more skilled, and they really know the ins and outs of the game. We have to keep the ball away from them as much as we can." While this year's Quakers are unquestionably superior to the 1995 squad, the team's shot selection through three games has left something to be desired. "We need to utilize every shot and make our midfield transitions work better," Gilhorn said. The Penn-Harvard rivalry has leaned in the Crimson's favor in the recent past. That's all the more reason for the Quakers to be mentally prepared for this weekend's matchup. "In the past they've given us some good beatings, but we should be able to give it right back to them this time," Brill-Edwards said. A win against Harvard Sunday would not only be a satisfying measure of revenge for Penn, but would establish the Quakers as a force to be reckoned with in the Ivy League and show that last year's season of only one Ancient Eight victory is a thing of the past. "We're playing well, but we're playing like a young team," senior attacker Alanna Wren said. "Some of the younger girls have been coming through for us and hopefully, by the end of the year, we'll be twice the team we were last year." A victory Sunday would accomplish that.