Soccer teams look to score in '99

With a new coach, the Penn women's soccer team hopes to improve. Patrick Baker, who guided the Quakers to a 42-37-7 mark from 1994 to 1998, left Penn during the off-season to take the head coaching position at Florida State. His successor is Andy Nelson, who spent the last five years at Wellesley College, where he transformed the small school's once-average program into one of Division III's best. Now Nelson inherits a very talented-yet-enigmatic Penn team which posted an undefeated non-conference mark last year but was unable to generate success in the Ivy League. "We have very talented players up front, consistent players in back, and hard-working players in the middle," Nelson said. "We have plenty of older players and it really means a lot to them for the team to do well." The Quakers are led up front by senior twin sisters Jill and Andrea Callaghan. Jill was first on the team with 26 points (11 goals, four assists) last year. Andrea led the team in points two seasons ago and has twice tied the school record for points in a game with six. Nelson's coaching philosophy is to "build from the back," and he consequently places special emphasis on team defense. His 1998 Wellesley squad led the country with a 0.29 goals against average. The backfield is guided by senior co-captains Jennifer Danielson and Deane Kocivar-Norbury. Kocivar-Norbury anchors the middle of the defense and is one of the main reasons that the Quakers posted 10 shutouts last season. Another reason is Danielson, whose consistency and decision-making are vital to the defensive effort. "Jenny and Dean are key players because they need to keep things organized in the back where they will be helping out the freshmen," Nelson said. One of those freshmen is Katherine Hunt, who appears likely to beat out senior and returning starter Anne Kluetmeier at goalkeeper. Kluetmeier had a solid 0.87 goals against average last season but is in danger of losing her spot to Hunt, who holds the shutout record at Palos Verdes (Calif.) High School with 23 in one season. Junior Angela Konstantaras considers Hunt and the other freshmen to be one of Penn's major strengths. "We have a great freshman class -- every girl is adjusting really well to the college game which doesn't usually happen," Konstantaras said. "I think they're ready to make a big contribution this year." The Penn midfield is led by junior Kellianne Toland, who controls the bulk of the Quakers' possession game. Nelson lauds Toland's all-around game, citing her ability to defend, attack, hold and score at any given time. The Quakers have been practicing since August 26 with the focus on "team shape, defending, getting forward and playing quicker with the ball," Nelson said. The late starting date for practice means that Penn will have had only two-plus weeks to get ready for this weekend's competition at the Maryland Tournament. The Quakers will be playing Pittsburgh (1-1) tomorrow and the host Terrapins (2-2) on Sunday. The Panthers are coming off a 2-1 loss to Navy, while Maryland lost to ranked teams USC and UCLA last weekend after starting the season 2-0. "The other schools will have an advantage because it always takes time playing with each other for everyone to get comfortable, and games are really the only way to get that experience," Konstantaras said. "We feel that we can beat any team and that any team can beat us though -- it just depends on whether we come out and play as well as we can." Starting with the September 18 match against Dartmouth, the Quakers will be concentrating on the Ivy League, where the Red and Blue finished tied for sixth last year with a 1-5-1 mark. That's an obvious contrast to Penn's sparkling 10-0 non-conference record. The Quakers' goal this year is to post a conference record which better reflects their level of ability, as they did two years ago when they finished second in the Ivies. "Last year's conference record should serve as a tremendous motivating factor this year," Nelson said. "There should be no problems motivating the team for conference games." Dartmouth won the Ivy League last year with a 6-0-1 record and advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals before losing to North Carolina. Harvard finished second to the Big Green with a 6-1 conference mark. Columbia and Yale also finished above .500 in conference play. The Ivy League is expected to be especially tight this year, with any team being capable of beating any other on any given day, according to Nelson. Dartmouth and Harvard are once again expected to finish near the top. But several teams, including Penn, are capable of challenging for those positions. Despite last year's frustrations, the Quakers seem poised to make a strong run at the Crimson and Big Green for the conference title. As Nelson said, last year's lingering memories should be enough motivation for the Quakers to be much more successful in the Ivy League this year.