W. Lax looks to keep hard-up Lions at bay

Penn tries for two wins in a row as Columbia pays a visit tomorrow. The Columbia women's lacrosse team is mired in an unenviable streak. After falling by a combined score of 33-1 to Princeton and Dartmouth in the past 10 days, the Lions visit Franklin Field tomorrow to take on Penn, still in search of their first-ever Ivy victory in the three-year history of their program. The Quakers (3-2, 0-2 Ivy League) are coming off an 11-8 win over Lafayette on Tuesday and will try to start a two-game winning streak when the Lions (3-2, 0-2) limp into town for tomorrow's 1 p.m. game. Still, Penn is not taking this game lightly by any means. "We're going to prepare for it the same that we've prepared for all our other games -- and we need an Ivy League win," Quakers senior Brooke Jenkins said. "Columbia has been improving each year, so we need to prepare for anything, because every year they've gotten better. And we had a close game with them last year." Penn's only Ivy win last spring came against the Lions, 10-8. In two-plus years, Columbia is 0-16 in Ivy play, which lends confidence to the Quakers but makes the Lions an even more dangerous team to face. "That's motivation for them, to try to get there first Ivy win. I'm sure that's spurring them on," Penn coach Karin Brower said. "Coach [Celine] Cunningham has done a good job in bringing in some talented new players. But they're definitely a team we can beat." The Lions have struggled mightily to put goals on the board this season and were shut out by No. 2 Princeton, 18-0. Meanwhile, the Quakers have found the net 55 times in five games, including eight tallies at No. 14 Yale. Lions junior Devin Fitzpatrick and sophomore Alissa McCadden are Columbia's offensive leaders -- each has tallied a hat trick once this year. Also on the prowl for the Lions is junior attacker Caroline Samponaro, who netted 21 goals last spring. The Quakers counter with sophomore Traci Marabella (12 goals) and Jenkins (12 goals), who have combined to pull off hat tricks five times through five games. Junior goalie Christian Stover, sporting a 9.75 goals against average, will be charged with stopping the Columbia attack. Penn has followed its first two non-league wins with Ivy losses this season, a trend the team will try to break out of with a win tomorrow. Quakers junior Amy Weinstein, who netted three goals in Penn's win over Columbia last April, has faith that the home team will come away with another victory. "Yeah, we definitely can break out of that streak. We're hungry for an Ivy League win," Weinstein said. "I think it'll be a good matchup. It'll be a good chance for us to really execute the things that we know how to do well and show ourselves and everyone else the type of team we really are." A key to this matchup will be which squad is more aggressive, forces turnovers and gets to the ground balls. On the season, Penn has won 89 ground balls to just 45 for the opposition, but has committed over twice as many fouls in the process. "I thought we hustled and were a lot more aggressive against Lafayette," Jenkins said. "We doubled well in the midfield and got the ball back when we lost it. And we passed more instead of running so much, which was good." The Quakers bring a slight advantage in this game. Jenkins went to high school with Lions sophomore goalie Gina Kline, and Weinstein faced the duo while playing for a rival school. Kline, who has faced a plethora of shots through five games, including 32 versus Princeton, may encounter a few tougher ones from two friendly faces. "Brooke and I both know their goalie real well," Weinstein said. "So I know they've got a really good goalie -- she's strong." Familiarity may not breed contempt in this case, but it may breed goals just the same.

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