W. Soccer tries to add to meager Ivy win total

The history of Penn women's soccer Ivy League success is a short one. Since its genesis in 1992, the Penn women's soccer team has won a total of four games and tied one. The first victory for the young program came against Princeton in the last game of 1993. Coach Patrick Baker, who replaced Suzette Wolf in 1994, has led the Quakers to a victory against Columbia in each of the last three years. The Quakers (2-1, 0-0) hope that Saturday's Ivy League opener against Dartmouth (1-1, 1-0) at Rhodes Field at 3 p.m. will be the opening statement in a new, long chapter in their history of Ivy League success. Baker's goal is to be in the top half of the conference. The players are even more optimistic. "We honestly think we can win the Ivies," Penn sophomore forward Jill Callaghan said. At first glance, this hope seems naive, considering that the Red and Blue were 1-6 last year against Ancient Eight competition. A closer look, however, reveals that the team's hopes are not as far-fetched as they may seem. Four of Penn's Ivy League games were decided by a one-goal differential, and only two were decided by more than two. "We were in every Ivy game last year except for Harvard," Baker said. Defensively, Penn has been playing superbly. The Quakers have already chalked up two shutouts in only three games and held No. 10 Maryland to only two goals. After only three games last year, Penn had already surrendered 12 goals. "Coach has been concentrating on defense all preseason, and it's really paying off," Quakers sophomore forward Andrea Callaghan said. Last year's 5-1 loss to Dartmouth is a prime example of the defense breaking down. Dartmouth was leading 2-1, when, with just over five minutes left in the game, the Big Green received a penalty kick as a result of a foul in the box, which resulted in the ejection of defender Heather Herson. Dartmouth converted the penalty kick and proceeded to tack on two additional goals in the waning minutes of the game. In a matter of a minute, the game had gone from nailbiter to landslide. Dartmouth is not the team it was last year. Nine starters and three bench players were lost to graduation. Sophomore Jessica Post, a player Baker unsuccessfully recruited, is also out due to a torn anterior cruciate ligament. Despite the critical losses, the Big Green opened their season with a surprising and impressive 4-0 victory over Brown. The strong start, however, sputtered when Dartmouth was upset, 1-0, by Maine on Tuesday. "We don't really know what to expect," Andrea Callaghan said, referring to the high number of starters that graduated from Dartmouth. Tomorrow's game will be a much more competitive game than the 3-0 victory over Bucknell Wednesday night. "We probably won't have as many chances on Saturday," Baker said. "The game against Dartmouth will be much more back and forth." Tomorrow's game also marks the first in a four-game homestand that the Quakers will enjoy. Temple, Cornell, and La Salle all come to Rhodes Field in the next two weeks. "We hope we can protect home field advantage better than we've done in the past," Baker said. If Penn pulls off a win against the traditionally strong Big Green tomorrow, they will start the new chapter in their Ivy League history with quite a statement.