Yale can be second Ivy win for W. Soccer

For the six seniors on the Penn women's soccer team, tomorrow's homecoming game against Yale (9-4-2, 2-2-1 Ivy League) will not only be a time to display their leadership to past graduates of the team in attendance, but it might also be a time to give their class some recognition by breaking the team's record of Ivy League wins in a season. The Quakers (4-7-2, 1-3) women's soccer program, in its seventh year of existence, has never amassed more than one Ivy victory. Penn has already defeated Columbia, 3-2, in overtime this season. The Quakers are coming off a disheartening 1-0 loss to Brown and still have two other remaining Ivy League opponents besides Yale. For the seniors, playing in their final Ivy League home match, it would be sweet justice to get the win after losing the past two years by the same score of 3-1. "It is starting to get emotional," Penn senior midfielder Wendy Bass said. "This is the big one. I would like to go out with a win at home. It is very important -- it will give us the most wins ever." Hoping to continue their streak of dominance against the Quakers, Yale is coming off Wednesday's 2-0 loss to Connecticut, the No. 4 team in the nation. The Elis, ranked third in the Ivy League, are led by junior midfielder Jill Rubinstein, tied for first in goals scored in the Ivy League, and forward Theryn Gibbons, last week's Ivy League Rookie of the Week. The Quakers will be ready, having the whole week available to concentrate on Yale. They spent most of the week concentrating on defense and limiting the amount of touches on the ball to counteract the Elis' upbeat style of play. "Yale plays what we call West Coast -- very short and sweet, very attractive and pretty soccer," Penn coach Patrick Baker said. "We have to be patient defensively. If we run around like chickens with our heads cut off, they are just going to knock the ball around us and make us look silly." The seven days between games has also allowed the team to get back to full strength at 24 players, compared to the 18 who dressed against Brown last week. Penn also took Wednesday to get away from its norm, playing its annual State Games, a tournament designed by dividing up into teams corresponding to home states. "I think it is the fact that we have had people out for injuries and stuff," Penn forward Tina Cooper said. "Finally, we are getting use to each other and gelling as an offense."

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