Harvard tries to win its fourth straight title

The Penn women's soccer team must get past the Crimson to win. For the first time in the Penn women's soccer team's history, it is not a stretch to say that the other seven Ivy League schools are chasing Penn, not the other way around. That is not to say, however, that Penn is the only team with a legitimate claim to being the favorite. Here's how the rest of the Ancient Eight stack up. · Harvard will seek its fourth straight conference title -- an accomplishment not achieved since Brown won its fourth outright title in 1986. The Crimson begins the season ranked 12th in the country, bolstered by the return of star All-American midfielder Emily Stauffer. Last year, Harvard went all the way to the NCAA quarterfinals without Stauffer, who took the 1997 fall semester off. In addition, the Crimson returned two All-Ivy goaltenders plus solid All-Ivy experience at defense and midfield. If the Crimson have a weak spot, it would be at forward. The presence of returning Ivy League Player of the Year Naomi Miller is key in an area where some newcomers may face trial by fire. · The rest of the league will see competition from Harvard's traditional rival. Yale showed itself to be a team of battlers in 1997. The rugged Elis style of play propelled them to a 12-6-1 season, despite losing then-captain Jill Rubinstein to a pre-season knee injury. Yale, however, brings back most of its starting lineup, including Rubinstein at forward. The Elis will also depend on midfielders Theryn Gibbons and Annie Kwon for the production that carried the squad to the 1997 ECAC finals. Gibbons and Kwon finished one-two on the team in goals. On the flipside, Yale will need players to fill holes in the backfield. A new goalie will start for the Elis for the first time in four years, and several new defenders will be called upon to replace fullbacks who have graduated. · Dartmouth finished last season tied with Yale and Penn with a 5-2 Ivy League record, as Kelly Blasius-Knudsen began her inaugural season as Big Green coach with the tough task of replacing six All-Ivy players, including two All-Americans. The situation gets somewhat easier this year with the return of several starters, including goalkeeper and 1997 Ivy League Rookie of the Year Kristen Luckenbill, as well as midfielders Suzanne Eastman and Chrissy Castro. · Cornell struggled through an injury-riddled campaign last fall to finish 3-12-1 overall. With nowhere to go except up, the Big Red will look to senior leadership at most positions. Two years ago, Cornell senior forward Genna Terranova scored 11 goals to tie a Big Red record for most goals in a single season. Barring injuries this season, Terranova will have help from midfielders Caarki Sweitzer and Miki Agrawal. Sweitzer tied for the team scoring last year, while Agrawal displayed speed and durability in her 14-of-16 games. Scoring will be welcome since the Big Red is another Ivy League team in search of solid goalkeeping. · Princeton has all the players they need. The Tigers return 24 of 26 letterwinners from a season where they reached double digits in wins for the first time since 1989. Senior Janet Santo and junior Susan Rea will anchor the defense, while senior captain Meredith Cage gradually works back into the lineup after undergoing ACL surgery in the spring. Also, senior Jonna Iacono and sophomore Jordan Rettig will end up platooning at goalkeeper for the second year in a row. The Tigers expect to win a better share of the one-goal games that often take place in the conference. Princeton went 2-3 in such games last year. If junior forward Dana DeCore and several sophomore forwards connect on offense, that mark should improve. · Lost in the shuffle are Brown and Columbia. With all the other strong teams in the league, there isn't much room for the Bears and Lions, who finished 2-5 and 1-6 in the Ivy League last year, respectively.