COLUMN: Field Hockey tries to ride Cloud 9

From Kent Malmros's, "The Mark of a golden Penn," But by lifting its record to 4-1 in the Ivy League, the field hockey team is forcing itself to the forefront of fall athletics and the conference title hunt. Going into the year, there was much speculation that the high point of the season would come Sunday November 22, when the NCAA Field Hockey Championship will be played on Franklin Field. But the Quakers have returned the focus to their own play, rather than the postseason they will be hosting. With two contests left in the Ivies play, Penn coach Val Cloud's team has a chance to capture a share of the Ivy League title with perennial power Princeton. The only two obstacles left for Penn are national and Ivy power Yale next Saturday and then the Tigers "[Yale's] never been on top," Cloud said. "They're on the way? but they still have to beat us." · This was supposed to be a team with too many question marks to erase -- the biggest being the five offensive players who graduated last season. "We basically lost our whole front line and we had to move people to those positions," Cloud said. "But we had the privilege of playing abroad in England when we went there without the graduating seniors." Tara Childs' 11 goals became a distant memory when she accepted her diploma. And her twin sister Erica took three more goals into the outside world with her. The Childs' weren't alone. The offensive potency of Emily Hansel and her six goals and seven assists graduated the program and Michelle Canuso-Bedesem three goal contribution was lost as well. With the mass exodus of offensive fire power, sole surviving contributor Maureen Flynn was left to lead a pack of inexperienced scorers. Flynn's nine goals warranted making her a focal point in the offense this year. The move has been profitable. Flynn's two goals in last weekend's Brown game gave Penn the deciding margin of victory. Her offensive prowess has been complemented by the emergence of Bess Freedlander and Courtney Martin, among others, as scoring threats. "They're still getting better," Cloud said. "[The trip to England] brought reality to the fact that we would have to work hard to score." More important has been the emergence of strong leadership, something that may have been lacking on last year's team. "[Tri-captain] Audrey Heinel is the heart and soul of this team," Cloud said. "She is not the best player but she is absolutely the driving force on this team." There isn't a plethora of stars on this team like those of No. 4 Princeton, but the ability to score as a team and players such as Heinel have kept them winning the games that matter. "We never assume we are going to have an easy game against Penn," Princeton coach Beth Bozman said. "If other teams take them lightly, they're going to lose to them." · Val Cloud admits that she has said it early and often -- the next two games are the ones that can make this a great season, good season or disappointing season. To this point the Quakers have won every game they should have in conference, with the exception of a slip up against Harvard in a tight overtime game. "It was a tough loss for us," Cloud said. "It gave us the impetus and added incentive to finish games and improve ourselves." Losing to the Crimson was the beginning of trying times for the field hockey team. Two more consecutive losses to then top 10 team Delaware and William & Mary frustrated the Quakers. Cloud's team responded by three wins in the next four games, including two wins over Ivy opponents. They won what they had to and what they were supposed to -- while struggling against the teams that they were supposed to. But the last two games that they aren't supposed to win will define the season. "We're looking at these games like we have nothing to lose," Flynn said. "With Princeton it's our last game of the season, and they have everything to lose." At this point last year, the Quakers had already lost two and were out of contention. This year, they are the only team that can take a share of the Ivy title from Princeton. Even Yale at No. 19 in the country is behind Penn with two losses. This team will at worst finish 4-3 in the Ivies, already better than last year's 3-4, but the team is looking for more. Whether anyone else notices or not, business for them is unfinished.