W. Soccer still in Ivy title hunt

In a must-win game, Penn faces Yale in hopes of making a run at the NCAAs. The Penn women's soccer team has a chance to alter history in more ways than one today as it travels up I-95 to face Yale in its second-to-last Ivy League game of the season. The second-place Quakers (11-3-1, 4-1 Ivy League) desperately need a win today against the fourth-place Elis (6-5-2, 2-1-2) to stay in the hunt for their first-ever Ivy League title. Penn and undefeated Harvard are the lone contenders remaining in the Ancient Eight title race, with the No. 15 Crimson slightly leading the Quakers as both teams enter the home stretch of the regular season. A stumble by Harvard in its two remaining games, though, could instantly even the race. More importantly, Penn needs to come back from New Haven, Conn., victorious, then beat Princeton November 6, in order to make a convincing bid for its first-ever NCAA Tournament berth -- whether automatically as Ivy champs or as a runner-up wild card team. Penn coach Andy Nelson wants his team to concentrate on its potential for earning a spot in the postseason rather than focusing on the Ivy League title. All of the Quakers' title hopes are pinned on the unlikelihood of a Harvard loss. "Instead of being concerned with winning the Ivy League, we need to be concerned about these final two games," he said. "If we win the next two, regardless of what Harvard does, we're going to be considered for [the] NCAA [playoffs]." Winning at Yale, however, is much easier said than done for the Quakers. If Penn wants to keep its NCAA hopes alive, it must not only win today on a field where it's never seen victory, but also beat a team that it's never topped in eight straight matches. And according to Yale coach Rudy Meredith, a much-matured Quakers side is still not a clear favorite against his improving Elis. Rather, he said, the two teams look to be exact mirror images of each other, which should make for an interesting -- and competitive -- game. "This will be probably the most evenly matched game for us this season," Meredith said. "We match up perfectly. They have four dangerous players up front and we have four dangerous players up front. We both have good goalkeepers, decent defenses and a good midfield. We're exactly equal." Considering the quality and equality of the two squads, Meredith said that he thinks today's match will be decided on a single goal. The question is, who will get that one crucial goal and then hang tough until the final whistle blows? The answer may partly lie in Penn's uncommon defensive set-up. Unlike most teams, including Yale, which use a sweeper behind a line of three defenders, the Quakers use a straight line of four backs to clog the middle of the field and better challenge a direct offensive attack. So far, the Elis have lost to the two flat-four defenses they've faced this season and Meredith is unsure whether his team has learned enough since those losses to successfully face the same defense against Penn. "They probably do it better than anyone else that you're going to play against," he said. "It definitely does concern me. We can beat it but we're a little inexperienced with it." Even if Yale does break through Penn's defense, it will have to deal with Quakers goalie Katherine Hunt, who has lately been a force in the net. The freshman brings a string of three straight shutouts into today's match; she has eight on the season. "She's been real solid in goal all the time," Nelson said. "That's good for her and for the team. It brings confidence for the team." If the members of the backfield do their job today, this confidence, coupled with Penn's recent scoring surge, may add up to the game-deciding goal. Over the previous three games, the Quakers have outscored opponents 8-0, including a 6-0 blowout of Navy Sunday in their last game. Penn's not the only team on a roll, though. Yale has outscored opponents a whopping 17-1 over their last three games, which leaves both coaches wondering what the outcome of today's match is going to be. Meredith's prediction: "It's going to be a dogfight for 90 minutes." For the sake of their playoff hopes, Nelson and the Quakers hope that they can make history today and come away as the top dog.