Lions and W. Lax are a perfect match

The 0-7 Quakers face Columbia, which has never won an Ivy game. Off to the worst start in team history, the Penn women's lacrosse team will have its best opportunity yet to turn things around this afternoon. At 4 p.m., the Quakers will be in New York to face Columbia at Baker Field, five miles north of the school's Manhattan campus. The Quakers (0-7, 0-2 Ivy League) finally have some confidence heading into today's game, as Columbia (5-3, 0-3) has not won an Ivy League game in its three years as a varsity program. "Things are looking good for tomorrow," Penn midfielder Amy Weinstein said. "I think that getting our first win will boost our confidence. [The biggest key] will be coming out from the start and letting them know we're not going to just stand back and let them do their thing." For the Quakers to get off to a good start, they will have to be especially aggressive on the attack in the early stages of the game, peppering the Columbia cage with shots. "Hopefully tomorrow we'll be able to put it all together," Penn senior co-captain Jenni Leisman said. "We want to go out there and dictate the flow right away, score the first few goals and prevent them from scoring." So far, that is exactly what Penn's opponents have been doing to the Quakers. Through seven games, the Penn offense has netted 41 goals while the Quakers have surrendered 87. One of Penn's biggest problems has been shot selection. "We're going to have to take advantage of our opportunities," said Penn assistant coach Alanna Wren, who has led the Quakers since the team petitioned the Athletic Department for the removal of head coach Anne Sage over a month ago. "We need to work on our shot selection and hopefully put some balls in the cage early on." With the season more than half over, the Athletic Department has still not made a decision on Sage's future. The Quakers will once again try to get their first win without their official head coach on the sidelines. The Quakers have certainly had problems in the early parts of games this season, falling behind 4-0 or worse in five of their seven losses. "If we hustle 100 percent of the time, we have a good chance of beating them," Penn junior co-captain Brooke Jenkins said. "We've had a tendency to start out slow and finish harder, but by then we've already dug ourselves into too big of a hole. If we play hard the whole time, we'll be fine." Jenkins, who leads Penn with 12 goals, is also now feeling "fine." Today will be her second game back since being diagnosed with a torn ACL. Jenkins did not score and was noticeably slower than normal while wearing a bulky leg brace on Monday night against Notre Dame. That was her first day with the brace, however, and she has displayed more mobility in practice as the week has progressed. "It was tough that her first day with the brace was a game day," Wren said. "She's starting to look more comfortable moving around. The team has a lot more confidence when she's out there, too." Despite her improvements, Jenkins will be no surprise to the Lions. "Having worked with Brooke before, at camps and stuff, I know that she's just a smart player," Columbia coach Celine Cunningham said. "Her speed wasn't her best thing, so we still have to make sure to keep a good eye on her." It may be difficult for Penn to figure out whom to keep an eye on today. No Lions player even averages two goals per game, the number that Jenkins has achieved this season. Columbia's balanced attack means that Penn will have to play good overall team defense. "It's always a challenge on defense making sure that we keep our communication open and work together," Leisman said. "If we don't, any team can get through and score a few goals. "We're all looking forward to [this game], and we're definitely capable of [winning] and I think that if we don't win, it will be nothing but a flaw in how we play. That would be a big setback for us for the rest of the season." The Quakers will need confidence going into the rest of the season because after Saturday's game against Harvard, Penn closes the season with four nationally ranked opponents. "Getting our first win will boost our confidence," Weinstein said. "I think that if we get a win [today] and show ourselves and everyone else that we can do it, then we can maybe turn it all around."