Field Hockey eyes second league win

In a four way tie for first the Ivy League at 1-0, tonight's 7 p.m. game against Cornell will give a better indication of Penn's relative strength in field hockey. Penn (1-2, 1-0 Ivy League) wants to continue its Ivy League winning streak against the Big Red (1-2, 0-1 Ivy League) tonight. "We definitely can beat Cornell," said senior tri-captain Audrey Heinel, who missed Wednesday's Lafayette's game due to illness but is cleared to play tonight. "It is going to be a tough and competitive game. But we're all really pumped, especially since it is an Ivy League game," Heinel said. After losing 2-0 to Lafayette on Wednesday night, Penn is ready for a win. "We have to use our loss on Wednesday as a learning experience and go up against Cornell with the same mentality we played Dartmouth with," Heinel said. Cornell may have the same fighting-back mentality as Penn after its 9-0 loss to Princeton (4-0, 1-0 Ivy League) which earned Princeton its 25th straight Ivy victory. This score, however, isn't an indication of the Big Red's potential, given the Tigers' streak of dominating opponents. The Quakers' loss to Lafayette came from both ends of the field. Penn graduated all of last season's starting forwards. As a result, the forward line is inexperienced and the defense against Lafayette "was not what it usually is," Heinel said. After an intense practice of one-on-one defensive drills and free hits last night, Penn is ready to capitalize on its mistakes and come ready to compete tonight. The Quakers will concentrate on getting the fouls and stopping the opposing offense when they are coming at top speed. Penn goalie senior Sarah Dunn has kept the team alive in the last few games. Dunn saved 13 shots on goal against the Villanova Wildcats and 10 shots on goal against the Lafayette Leopards. Dunn holds the third highest save percentage in the Ivy League at 91.3 percent. In all three match-ups Dunn has out-saved the opposing keepers. The number of saves verse the number of shots the Penn team has is on different ends of the number line. The Quaker's opponents have faithfully out shot them in all three games this season. "[As a result], the majority of our games are played in the mid-field and defensive end," said freshman Monique Horshaw. Looking to "drive" its game plan to the opposite end of the playing field, the offensive end, Penn hopes to outscore the Big Red and remain atop the Ivies.