W. Soccer hopes to stay perfect outside Ivies

The Penn women's soccer team heads to George Mason with a 9-0 out-of-conference record, despite an 0-4-1 clip within. It wasn't supposed to be like this. Not this year, with 10 of last year's starters returning to the squad. Unfortunately for the women's soccer team, the reality is that the Quakers (9-4-1) are 0-4-1 in the Ivy League and the great expectations produced by last year's second-place conference finish have been emphatically destroyed. The team has been sparkling in non-conference play, however, posting a 9-0 mark outside of the Ancient Eight. The women's soccer team hopes to keep its non-conference record perfect today when it travels to George Mason to battle the Patriots (11-5-1). It has been difficult for the Quakers to understand the reasons for the major difference between conference and non-conference results this year. "We've been playing relatively well, but the shots haven't been falling in conference games," Penn coach Patrick Baker said. "It's hard to figure out what the missing piece is for us. Maybe it's just luck." For one more game, however, Baker hopes the mysterious trend continues, but he knows his team is facing its toughest non-conference opponent this year. "George Mason has beaten a lot of good teams this year, and its losses have only been against the very best teams in the country," Baker said. The Patriots are coming off a 0-0 tie against ninth-ranked William & Mary last weekend and lost to second-ranked Santa Clara by a 1-0 score earlier this year. "We've been pretty pleased with the way we've played," George Mason coach Jac Cicala said. "We're expecting a hard battle against Penn. We're trying to improve our regional ranking, and so are they, so this means a lot." Cicala, the 1993 National Coach of the Year, has the service of three top regional players. The Patriots' leading point scorer is freshman Katy Robertson, who has 16 goals and 10 assists in 17 games, including a school record-tying five goals against Richmond. Senior Jennifer Jones is second with eight goals and nine assists. But according to Baker, the best player on George Mason is actually junior Jaime Ricker, who does not have eye-catching statistics, but uses great skills both with and without the ball to lead the team from the midfielder position. Baker is anticipating a game played in the middle of the field, with each team taking only 10 to 15 shots during the contest. He hopes that he will not have to witness his team's inconsistent play which has marred conference games. "We've been suffering some crucial lapses on defense," Baker said. "We can't keep giving up the soft goals." The focus at practice this week has been individual and team defense in an effort to eliminate the defensive lapses. The Quakers don't expect many scoring chances against the Patriots' defense, so the defense needs to play especially well. It will not be easy against a team which has posted a 5-2-1 record in the Colonial Athletic Association, one of the toughest women's soccer conferences in the nation. George Mason is expected to play with extra emotion since it is the last home game for its seniors, who are scheduled to be honored before the game. For one game, the pressure of winning its first Ivy League contest is off for the women's soccer team. With a win, the Quakers can protect their undefeated non-conference mark and give themselves some much-needed confidence leading up to the final Ivy League games. With a loss, however, Penn will have to again ask itself questions about what is going wrong this year with a team that started out with so much promise.