SEASON PREVIEW: W. Lax primed for a breakthrough season

The Penn women's lacrosse team -- hoping to improve upon their losing records of the past three years -- is returning a solid, albeit small, core of veterans for their 1998 season. The Quakers finished 5-7 overall and 2-4 in the Ivy League in 1997, good for fifth in the league. In light of the strength of Ivy teams on the national lacrosse scene -- four Ivy teams and eight of the Quakers' opponents in '97 were ranked in the top 20 -- Penn was better than its record indicated. This season's team, despite having strong senior leadership, is still one of the youngest group of Quakers in recent memory. The Red and Blue lost six players from last season, including three unexpectedly -- due to work and early graduation -- just before this season was to begin. "We're younger, but with a little more talent [than in years past]," Penn coach Anne Sage said. "It's a new team, with a lot of enthusiasm." Despite losing four of their top seven scorers, the Quakers still expect to put up big numbers. The team has two 1997 Second-Team All-Ivy selections in senior co-captains Darah Ross and Emily Hansel. Ross led the Quakers last season with 26 goals, while Hansel, who was recently voted a pre-season Honorable Mention All-American, scored 17 times from her defensive position. "Emily is an impact player," Sage said. "She's a very talented athlete and has great speed." Joining the two seniors on this year's team are three junior starters -- goalie Sue Back, defenseman Jenni Leisman and attacker Katy Miller. Both Back and Leisman started 11 of 12 games last year for the Quakers, with Leisman contributing three goals from the backfield and Back posting an 11.67 goals against average in the net. "The older girls have shown a lot of leadership already this season," Leisman said. "And we have some sophomores returning who played a lot last year." With 12 positions on the lacrosse field and only five upperclassmen, the success of this year's team will ultimately depend on the younger half of the squad. The Quakers have 11 sophomores, including six of whom are returning from last year's squad. This class is led by attacker Brooke Jenkins, who netted 19 goals last season as a freshman. Midfielders Lee Ann Sechovicz and Amy Padula each started eight games last year for Penn. Just as important, the Quakers have a solid recruiting class this year, with 10 freshmen competing with the 11 sophomores for starting positions. The first-year class includes attackers Cindy Quinn and Annie Henderson, as well as goalie Christy Stover. "We have a good freshman class," Sage said. "They're so coachable [and are] going to be developing rapidly." "The freshman have already stepped up," Leisman said. "After the first time out, [youth] won't be a problem." The team has been practicing outdoors for the past six weeks and heads to several unofficial tournaments over spring break. On March 7 and 8, the Quakers will be at William and Mary for a two-day tournament against area teams that will not count toward standings. After facing the likes of the U.S. and Welsh national teams, James Madison and Johns Hopkins in small scrimmages, the Quakers head to Hilton Head, S.C., for three days of practice and a scrimmage versus the University of South Carolina. "We're definitely ready," Sage said. "We just need to see the opposition on the field of play." The Quakers women's lacrosse starts its official season Saturday, March 21 at Yale, and faces Stanford in their first home meet the following day at Franklin Field. Last year's Quakers team won its first Ivy match of the year in overtime against Cornell, 15-14, but lost its final Ivy meet of the year to Yale, 12-10. In between, though, Penn was blown out in back-to-back games by Ivy co-champions Dartmouth, 16-6, and Princeton, 16-8. "All the Ivies should be ranked at one time or another this season," Sage said. "Anyone is capable of defeating anyone else on any day." This year, the Ivy League doesn't look any easier than years past. In this year's pre-season poll, Princeton and Dartmouth -- who the Quakers face back-to-back on the road late in April -- were ranked No. 8 and No. 9 nationally. The Red and Blue also face No. 2 Temple at home on April 3. Yale (12-5, 4-2 Ivies in '97), Penn's first opponent of '98, finished third in the league last season. Though the Elis lost their top scorer, they return Ivy Rookie of the Year Heather Bentley, who scored 35 goals in her freshman campaign. Elis senior captains Amanda Cox and Emily Groom combined for 39 goals, and junior goalie Alison Cole had only a 6.55 goals against average. League favorite Princeton, a perennial lacrosse powerhouse, returns 15-of-20 letter winners. Although the Tigers (7-7, 5-1 Ivies in '97) lost last year's Ivy League Player of the Year, they still feature senior attacker Melissa Curry, a pre-season second team All-American and junior attacker Cristi Samaras, a U.S. National Team member. Dartmouth (10-4, 5-1 Ivies in '97) lost three All-Americans, but still returns four of their five players who broke the 20-point barrier in '97. The Big Green are led by senior captains Julia Morrill (24 goals) and Jen Greene (28 assists). The team also features second-team All-Ivy goalie junior Sarah Carlson, who had an 8.36 goals against average last year. Due to the graduation of defensive starters, the Big Green have moved two of last year's starting midfielders to defense -- exposing a weakness on this year's team. Not to be forgotten are Brown (10-4, 4-2 Ivies in '97) and Harvard (5-8, 1-5 in Ivies in '97). The Bears handed Dartmouth its only league loss last season and return pre-season first-team All-American attacker Phoebe Koch. The Crimson lost three of their six most prolific scorers from '97, but do return senior attacker Honor McNaughton, who recorded 22 goals in last year's campaign. "I'm optimistic about this year in the league," Leisman said. "Last year we beat Harvard and were ranked 12th in the country. We were all excited." In contrast to the upper tier of the league, Cornell and Columbia appear to be the least threatening of the Ivy teams. The Big Red (5-9, 0-6 in Ivies in '97) is coming off of a winless Ivy campaign in '97; and last year was the first season the Lions (3-13, not counted in Ivies) ever fielded a varsity women's lacrosse team. Both New York teams should prove easy wins for the Quakers. Although young, Penn women's lacrosse is enthusiastic and expecting big things from this year's team.

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