W. Soccer will celebrate sixth birthday with two matches

This afternoon, the Penn women's soccer team celebrates its sixth birthday. Last year, second year coach Patrick Baker guided the Quakers to an 8-6-2 record -- their first winning season ever. Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy? But before you get carried away, Baker has a little something special lined up for the ladies in red and blue. The birthday present -- a weekend in historic Williamsburg, Va., to face No. 13 William and Mary in the Tribe Invitational. Outside of the Ivy League, the Quakers have never faced nationally ranked opposition. "After turning the program around as quickly as we did, I think it's just a natural step," Baker said. "We're recruiting a higher profile player, thus we need to step up our schedule." The party gets started at 4 p.m. at the Tribe's Barksdale Field. William and Mary (4-1), which has attended the NCAA tournament 12 times in 13 years, returns 18 letter winners, including eight starters from last season. The Tribe already has five matches under its belt; the Quakers have only had a scrimmage with Princeton, which they lost 3-2. "William and Mary is probably the toughest team we'll play all year," Baker said. "But I'd rather play them right now, and say, 'Hey, this is how far away we are.' They're going to expose us in some areas that, if we can take care of through training sessions and player development, we'll be that much better at the end of the year. Hopefully, we'll be "Ivy-ready", which is the most important thing." As a team and as individuals, W&M; is deadly on paper. Despite losing four-time All-American striker Natalie Neaton to graduation, solid senior leadership and a strong recruiting class seems to have filled the gap. The Tribe's only loss came at the hands of then-No. 13 Washington, 2-0. "I think that if our group comes in and uses that first game adrenaline in the right way," Baker said, "and we can keep William and Mary on their toes, the longer we can go into the game without going down a goal or maybe going up a goal early, then we can use that as our confidence factor." The Tribe will be without its remaining All-American midfielder, Ann Cook, who injured her leg last Friday against Washington. Cook currently holds the school record for career assists and a was a vital link between the forwards and midfield. Her match-fitness remains questionable for today's match. But Penn has fitness problems of their own. Freshmen twins Andrea and Jill Callaghan are both sidelined with blood-related illnesses. Freshman Sarah Unger and sophomore Megan McDonald are out with knee injuries. Sunday, the Quakers play the second half of their draw against Old Dominion at noon. Old Dominion coach Joe Pereira and Baker have something of a rivalry going, dating back to their previous coaching jobs at Methodist and North Carolina Wesleyan, respectively. Between 1991 and 1993, their teams competed against each other in the Dixie Conference in Division III. Baker has also worked with Pereira on his Olympic development program coaching staff over the past three years. ODU is something of a mirror of last year's Quakers. Pereira described his team as "inconsistent, inexperience, but adventurous!" So ladies, before you blow out the candles, don't forget to make a wish.