W. Soccer explores North Philly

The Penn women's soccer team faces the La Salle Explorers today in search of its sixth win of '98. The Penn women's soccer team took on more than a tough Cornell squad last Saturday -- they took on history. Prior to the game, the Quakers had never won an Ivy League away game aside from their trips to Columbia. Unfortunately, Penn did not emerge with a win, but a tie at zero with the Big Red set them on course to make history once again, in this weekend's away game at Harvard. "We lost to Harvard last year 1-0," Penn tri-captain Tina Cooper said, "and they're the only Ivy League team we haven't beaten yet." The Quakers could arrive in Boston with six wins without having allowed a goal. There's just one bump on their path -- the La Salle Explorers. Penn will journey to La Salle (5-1-1) today with hopes of shutting out the Explorers and finishing the month of September undefeated. This year's La Salle squad has a different look than the team Penn defeated 4-0 last season, according to Penn coach Patrick Baker. "They've got a new coach and I think they're organized better," Baker said. "Plus any team with a winning record, especially an impressive one like theirs, has got to be a team to be reckoned with." To succeed, Baker feels his team must pick up where they left off against Cornell last weekend, with one minor adjustment. "I feel we did everything but score goals to win that game," he said. According to Penn midfielder Kelianne Toland, a win in today's game could help boost the confidence the Quakers lost in missed opportunities against the Big Red. "We had a huge problem finishing last weekend," Toland said. "So the game against La Salle is going to be big because we have to feel that we can put the ball in the back of the net when we go to Harvard." Cooper also emphasized how taxing the Cornell game was, calling it "120 minutes that felt surreal." "We just couldn't put the ball in," she said, "but we worked on it in practice and now La Salle will be a good test for us." While a victory over the Explorers today could boost some Penn egos, the Quakers were hesitant to generalize too extensively from their non-league victories. "All of the teams in our area very competitive but it's so different to play in the Ivy league where one or two goals usually make the difference," Cooper said. "We're not taking La Salle lightly, but we're confident in our abilities." La Salle central midfielder Tracy Spinelli will be the player to watch, according to Baker. Spinelli has scored three of her team's 10 goals of the season and also has two assists. But while Spinelli's stats may be impressive, the Explorers clearly have not done much collective scoring. "They haven't put a lot of goals on the board at one time but they've been winning a lot of 1-0 games so they're getting the job done defensively," Baker said. "I credit their defense and their goal keeper for getting as many shutouts as they've gotten to this point." Like the Quakers, all of La Salle's victories were shutouts. Baker also gave accolades to his own defense, particularly in its performance last weekend. "Cornell tested us probably more than any other team had, and we did a great job defensively," he said. "I think a lot of people realized that Anne Kluetmeier is a very talented goal keeper. She made four or five tremendous saves." With such terms as shutout, rankings and championship looming around the Quakers at all times, it's easy to get caught up in their quest for a historical season. But according to Baker, Penn has not forgotten the remarkable progress they have already made. "Everyone expects us to be the best team, but what people don't realize is that two years ago we were at the bottom of the Ivy League," he said. "We're getting opportunities to learn valuable lessons and whether we do or not will be determined in games to come."