Back-to-back games at home leave W. Soccer with little rest

After battling through a tough series of three games over five days earlier in the week, the Penn women's soccer team took a well-deserved break from practice yesterday, staying home to rest and relax. The day off wasn't needed just to recover from the previous series of games, though. It also helped prepare the Quakers for a grueling set of back-to-back matches coming up this weekend. Penn (8-3-1 overall, 3-1-0 Ivy League) will play the role of extended host for two games that will surely leave the Quakers panting. They welcome Ivy League bottom dweller Brown (2-8-2, 0-3-1) to Rhodes Field at noon tomorrow before facing regional foe Navy (11-5) at 1 p.m. Sunday. Fortunately for Penn, its NCAA-required single day off per week could only be squeezed in Thursday, between the two multi-day series. "It was a necessary break to give us some rest," Penn co-captain Jen Danielson said. "It takes a lot of energy to play that many games. If you go for too long, you get physically tired and then mentally tired." And mental breakdowns are not something the Quakers can afford this weekend, with a pair of games that carry heavy post-season implications. With only three games remaining in the regular season, Penn needs a victory over Brown to remain in the three-team hunt for first place in the Ancient Eight. Harvard and Princeton, both ahead of third-place Penn in the Ivy standings, square off Saturday in Cambridge, Mass. The Red and Blue lost to the Crimson 2-1 in an overtime match earlier this month but don't play the Tigers until November 6. If Harvard wins, the undefeated Crimson will most likely cruise to the Ivy League title and an automatic NCAA playoff berth. If Princeton comes out on top, however, Penn could still have a chance at its first title by beating the Tigers next month. "It's frustrating because it's not completely in our control anymore," Danielson said. "If we win our last three games, then we [could] be right at the top. We have a chance of finishing better then we ever have before, so we need to fight [against Brown]." The Quakers expect the Bears to put up a fight of their own, pairing their physical play with a very direct attack toward the Penn goal through the center of the field. This attack will be led by Brown forward and leading scorer Bekah Splaine, but Danielson thinks that Penn will curb the Bears' offense early, moving the ball to the wings instead of playing it in the middle of the field. "We'll probably play 10 minutes back and forth at the beginning," she said. "Afterwards, I think we have enough ability to start playing around them." The scoring potential of Splaine and the Bears may also be off-set by the Quakers' maturing offense. Led by midfielder Kelli Toland, who had two goals and three assists in the earlier three-game series, Penn has become much more consistent in finding the back of the net. Toland credits her team's defense with sparking the newly found offense. "We're now really comfortable with our defense," she said. "The comfort level has given us more of a chance to push up and take chances on offense." On Sunday, Penn will have to rely on both its offense and its defense against ECAC opponent Navy, which has netted an impressive three or more goals in eight of its 11 wins this season. The two teams have never faced off before, but both have played common opponents this season -- with opposite results. Penn had an early season win at Maryland, but lost to George Mason Monday. Navy, on the other hand, beat the Patriots in its first game but was defeated by the Terrapins last week. Looking at these opposing results, Penn coach Andy Nelson says Sunday's game should be an even matchup. A Penn win against the regionally higher-ranked Midshipmen would most likely pull the Quakers up in the ECAC standings. This might improve Penn's chances for an NCAA wild-card bid, in case the Quakers don't win the Ivy League title. With a pair of back-to-back, high-implication games looming before them, the Quakers are thankful for their short rest before the weekend. Danielson, though, knows that no amount of rest can make the team invincible to the fatigue of two games in a row. "If we had a whole week before two games played back-to-back, it would still be tiring."