Football begins its title defense with Big Green

The Quakers will host Dartmouth in what is usually a close battle. It's not that the Penn field hockey team's heartbreaking 3-2 loss in overtime to St. Joseph's and its exhilarating 4-2 win over visiting Villanova were not important. It's just that for the Quakers, the real season begins on Sunday. At noon, the whistle will blow and Penn and Dartmouth will battle to open Ivy League play on Franklin Field. Every year, the Quakers open their Ivy schedule with the Big Green, and every year it is a hard fought battle. "It is going to be a competitive game that is important in the standings since it is both teams' first Ivy game," Penn forward Katie McCuen said. Penn (1-1) defeated the Big Green on Dartmouth's turf last season in a nail-biting 3-2 contest. The year before, however, Dartmouth came back from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Quakers 4-3 in the final minutes of the game. "It is a very bitter memory in the minds of those that remember that loss," Penn coach Val Cloud said. "They are very persistent." It is difficult to predict a team's success from individual games when the season is so young but Cloud does have some knowledge on the Big Green. "They've played two teams but it is hard to tell how they will be," she said. "I'm still waiting for a another scouting report to confirm what I do have on them. Like us, they have a lot of experienced players and they use a lot of passing. They also like to attack from right to left." Two very definite scoring and midfield threats for Dartmouth are senior twin sisters Lauren and Kristen Scopaz. With Kristen at the the center midfielder spot and the co-captain and leading scorer Lauren as the center forward, the duo could present problems for Penn. In Dartmouth's season opener against the University of Maine, Lauren Scopaz scored four goals and assisted on another to defeat Maine, 6-3. The Big Green could not duplicate that performance in the next game, falling 2-1 to Syracuse. Regardless of the records, however, something mysterious happens when two Ivy teams match up to open the regular season. With two teams as strong and feisty as Penn and Dartmouth, it will be anyone's game. "Any Ivy would be a tough opener, but I have a great deal of respect for [Dartmouth]. I never know what they are going to do," Cloud said. "[Dartmouth] is tough on offensive corners I have to prepare the team for that. Hurricane Floyd interrupted yesterday's opening preparation for the Big Green. So today Cloud will have to prepare her team for the Big Green's offensive corners and dominant right field play.

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