In Ivy race, W. Soccer looks for first win vs. Brown

Brown is the first of three Ivy League teams left on the Penn women's soccer schedule. The Penn women's soccer team is coming down the homestretch of the Ivy League race -- a new experience for the Quakers. The Red and Blue (8-4, 3-1 Ivy League) are tied for second with Harvard (3-1) behind Dartmouth (4-1) with three Ivy games left in their best season ever. The first of these critical games is against Brown tomorrow at Rhodes Field at noon. Despite being on one of the three teams at the front of the pack, no Quakers player has been recognized as the Ivy League Player of the Week. Penn's freshmen have also escaped the attention of the league office, with no freshman named Rookie of the Week. "The league doesn't respect us," Penn sweeper Deane Kocivar-Norbury said. "And the only way to make them respect us is to keep winning." That's exactly what the Quakers have been doing in what has become the friendly and successful confines of Rhodes Field. Penn is 5-0 at home and has outscored its opponents 20-1. But despite the home-field advantage, Quakers coach Patrick Baker considers his team the underdog. "I would say that they're the favorite since we've never beaten them," Baker said. Last year in front of a large Parents Weekend crowd, the Bears slipped by the Quakers in Providence, R.I., 1-0. The tough loss left a "bad taste," according to Baker. "Subconsciously, we psyched ourselves out [last year]," Kocivar-Norbury said. This year, the Quakers have the advantage of playing in front of the parental crowd. Having the players' parents in town has added to the excitement of the game, according to Baker. "We want to put on a good show," Penn freshman Angela Konstantaras said. Brown (4-7, 1-3 Ivy League) comes into town after two lopsided games. The Bears beat Northeastern, 4-0, on Wednesday, three days after losing to Connecticut by the same score. Two weeks ago, Brown led by Player of the Week Heidi Sheckley, beat Princeton, 2-1. Penn has had a good week of practices thanks to the added incentive of being in the Ivy League race, according to Konstantaras. The week's practices included a laid-back, intra-squad tournament between the different regions. The West Coast defeated New Jersey in the final. After mustering only one shot while being shut out by Harvard a week ago, the Quakers have been emphasizing their offense. Penn is planning to put a lot of pressure on the Brown backfield when the Bears have possession, looking to create offensive opportunities, according to freshman midfielder Kelli Toland. "Finishing will be important because we're going to have plenty of chances," Toland said. Of the three remaining weeks in the season, this weekend and next weekend will prove the deciding games in the Ivy League championship hunt, according to Baker. "It'll be clear cut in a week," Baker said. "Our goal is to still be in it at the end of the week." While the Quakers try to keep pace with the other leaders with a win against Brown, they will become Princeton supporters for a day. The Tigers travel to Cambridge, Mass., in an attempt to upset the defending Ivy League champions. If Penn wins all three remaining conference games, it will still need a Harvard tie or lose to earn the automatic berth in the NCAA tournament that goes to the winner of the conference. The Quakers need a Crimson tie or loss because Harvard owns the head-to-head tie-breaker over Penn. A Dartmouth loss is not needed because the Quakers own that tie-breaker since they defeated the Big Green in their home opener. "Anyone that knows anything about our program knows that we're usually out of [the race] by the second game," Baker said, "until now."