W. Lax searches for quality win at Temple

The Quakers need to win both of their final two games to finish at .500, but it won't be eary today at Temple. After dropping its fifth straight contest last week, the Penn women's lacrosse team has a chance to turn things around today and shoot for .500. The Quakers head to Temple's Geasey Field where a victory will improve them to 6-7 overall, with the final game of the season approaching on Saturday against Monmouth. "A win would be great [against Temple], but our next two games could both go either way," Penn coach Karin Brower said. "I have to get my team to realize what they want. Do they want to be .500 or do they want to end with seven losses in a row?" The choice seems simple, but according to Brower, Penn doesn't always play like it really wants to win. The first-year coach said her team often lacks the heart and hustle necessary to persevere in close contests. In fact, she said that in her eyes Penn has only won a single tough game this season, an 11-8 triumph against Lafayette. "We won the games that we should have won," Brower said. "But against Harvard, Rutgers and Brown we were the underdogs, but we still had a shot. So it was frustrating that we didn't play up to our potential in those games." Temple coach Kim Ciarrocca echoed Brower's woes when discussing her own team's streaky performance. The Owls have compiled a 7-7 record, but they have yet to win more than two games in a row. Their league record currently stands at 5-1, with their only loss coming against UMass, which was also the only non-ranked opponent to defeat them. "We've been up and down here at Temple," Ciarrocca said. "When we're up, we go to goal more, take more shots and are more aggressive on attack. We double the ball in the midfield better. That's a good Temple team. That's what happens when Temple shows up." If the Owls show up today, Brower said her team should expect a feistier opponent than their typical Ivy League match-ups. She told them that the Atlantic 10 Conference members will probably be the most physical team they'll play all year. "They've got tough kids and different types of kids than we usually see in the Ivy League. They don't have any phenomenal players like Dartmouth or Princeton, but they're strong and powerful," Brower said. "They'll be like Harvard, but rougher -- less finesse and more run-and-gun." Ciarrocca wasn't as quick to differentiate her team from the Ivy Leaguers, however. She said the Owls are no more aggressive than the likes of Princeton and Dartmouth. And Ciarrocca should know, because the Tigers took care of her team, 13-10, a few weeks ago. Aside from both losing to Princeton this season, Penn has something else in common with its Philly neighbor. Each team will bring a young line-up into today's contest, with just 13 upperclassmen between them, six of which are on the Penn roster. But experience is all relative, and Brower said the Owls still have a year on her team. Temple's strength is in its six sophomores, who took the reigns last year when six seniors graduated. Ciarrocca said that some inexperience has still led to midfield turnovers for her team all season long. She claimed her young Owls have a lot of learning to do, but lamented that there is just one senior attacker to show them the way -- 5'9'' Kelly Ruch from Phoenixville, Pa. If the statistics are any indication, Ruch is doing pretty well despite her young supporting cast. She leads the team in scoring for the second year in a row with 48 goals, and her 9 assists are good for second. While the Quakers will certainly have their hands full with Ruch, Brower expressed more concern with freshman midfielder Patience Synnestvedt, whose size and power are more daunting than the 21 goals she's netted this season. "She's like six feet tall and 180 something," Brower said, and the Owls roster concurs. Ciarrocca said she is expecting a quicker and more agile team than she's seen in past Quaker squads. The key for her team, she said, will be effective double-teaming in the midfield to slow Penn down.

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