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Penn to take on BigPenn to take on BigGreen, Tigers, BearsPenn to take on BigGreen, Tigers, Bearsin upcoming week A lot is riding on this week -- a whole lot. If the Penn women's lacrosse team is going to challenge for the Ivy League title this year, then its performance in the next three games will make the difference. In the upcoming week, the Quakers (3-2, 2-0 Ivy League) will face Dartmouth, Princeton and Brown -- all strong Ivy teams that will prove tough challenges for Penn. The Quakers face perhaps the toughest of the three foes on Saturday, when they travel to Hanover, N.H., to take on Dartmouth, the defending Ivy champion. The Big Green (4-2, 0-1) crushed Penn, 14-4, last year at Franklin Field. The biggest challenge for the Quakers will be dealing with the team speed of Dartmouth -- an asset that led the Big Green all the way to the Ivy title last year. "They're a very competitive team," Penn coach Anne Sage said. "They're very fast, and they love to run." To counter Dartmouth's speed, Penn will focus on putting together a more efficient team effort. This will require more work on finishing plays. The team has been able to work the ball up and down the field, but has not been able to come up with good shots to complete the play. Defensively, the Quakers have had similar problems breaking down the opponents' offensive plays. Penn has spent some time in practice working on this, but for the most part, the team still devotes the majority of its time on the basics. "We're working on coming up with ground balls, also a lot of tactical work and some shooting and stick-checking -- just refining everything," Sage said. Penn will also have to deal with the long trip up to Hanover. If the Quakers are even the slightest bit sluggish after the six-hour bus ride, Dartmouth will use its speed to run away with the game. On the other hand, Penn feels that a strong showing in the first few minutes will be a huge boost towards a Quakers victory. "It's really important that we get off to a good start," Sage said. "A start like we had against West Chester would be big for us." On Tuesday, Penn scored the first six goals against West Chester and cruised to an easy 12-6 rout over the Division II Golden Rams. But the Quakers will not have it that easy in any of their next three games. Both Dartmouth and Princeton have extremely competitive teams. And although Brown is not quite as strong, it too could cause problems for Penn. But if the Quakers can rise to the challenge, they will be in the thick of the Ivy title race.

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