W. Soccer faces nation's best at Duke tourney

The Quakers have never faced competition as fierce as perennial No. 1 North Carolina and fellow power Duke. David versus Goliath would seem like a pretty even match compared to what the Penn women's soccer team encounters this weekend at the Duke Adidas Women's Soccer Classic in Durham, N.C. The Quakers (6-1) open the four-team tournament against the host Blue Devils tonight at 7 p.m. Duke (6-2) is ranked No. 6 in the nation, and its two losses came against No. 2 Notre Dame and No. 5 Portland. As if playing a high-caliber team like Duke was not enough, the Red and Blue then meet NCAA defending champion North Carolina tomorrow at 5 p.m. The Tar Heels (9-0-1) have built a dynasty in collegiate women's soccer in the 18 years of the program's existence. North Carolina (399-16-11 record through 1996) has won 14 national championships and has gone to the Final Four 17 times. Half of both the 1991 U.S. World Championship team, coached by North Carolina coach Anson Dorrance, and the 1996 Olympic team were made up of Tar Heels' players. The most famous female soccer player in the world, Mia Hamm, played at Chapel Hill. About half of the current Tar Heels have appeared for the full United States national team. The Quakers have their work cut out for them to say the least. "These are the teams you always heard about, talked about in high school soccer and club soccer," Penn goalie Annie Kluetmeier said. "It will be a tough game, but it will be fun." Penn is in the middle of its best start ever. The Red and Blue have shut out their opponents five times and have outscored their opponents 20-3. The Quakers defeated Dartmouth and Cornell for the first time ever to start 2-0 in the Ivy League, another first. Earlier this season, Penn lost to then-No. 10 Maryland. The Terrapins only managed two goals against the stingy Quakers' defense in the 2-0 victory. The experience against a top-notch team like Maryland will be critical for Penn to stay in the games this weekend. Both games will be defensive struggles on the Penn side of the field. Defense has been the focus and strength of this year's Quakers team. The defense will be stretched to the limit against North Carolina. The Tar Heels have scored 42 goals and taken 217 shots while holding their opponents to four goals and 34 shots. Duke comes into tonight's game after beating North Carolina State 1-0 on Tuesday. North Carolina enters the tournament after beating No.3 Texas A&M; 2-1 on Sunday. Dorrance will be looking for his 400th career victory in the inaugural game of the tournament tonight against Alabama, the fourth team in the tournament. The Quakers are off to what looks to become their best season ever. This weekend will show how good Penn really is, when the Quakers play the best of the best.