California rivals, Penn teammates

At this time last year, the thought of now-Penn freshmen soccer teammates Katy Cross and Rachelle Snyder teaming up seemed laughable. The Southern California natives were on the two top teams in the state, two squads that had a rapport as unfriendly as Penn and Princeton.

"We were probably the two biggest rivals in the state," Cross said. "Both of our teams really hated each other."

Cross, a Pasadena, Calif. native, who now resides in Claremont, played for the NHB Magic club team, while Snyder played for the San Diego Surf.

In the state cup finals in 2000, the two teams met. The Magic fell to the then-defending national champion Surf, 4-1, with Cross scoring the lone goal for her squad. The Surf went on to be runners-up in the national finals.

Fast forward to late this summer. The Quakers, coming off a tumultuous 10-8-1 campaign, with a disappointing 2-5 Ivy League record, recruited 11 new freshmen, among them Cross and Snyder.

"I had no idea what [the team] would be like," Snyder said. "After practicing a few times, I could tell we had a lot of young talent, I just didn't know if we'd put it to use."

Snyder herself erased much doubt with her performance in the second game of the season. After scoring her first collegiate goal 14 seconds in, she rewrote the Penn record books, breaking the record for points in a game (8) and goals (4) in a 6-4 victory over Delaware.

Cross, who had scored two goals in the opening game win over Iowa State and a third in the second game, had seven total points at that point, putting both freshmen on pace to shatter Penn's single-season scoring record.

As the season progressed, Penn's two star rookies proved that their success was more than just beginner's luck. With five games remaining in the season, Cross and Snyder have 22 and 20 points, respectively, and are both on pace to shatter Jill Callaghan's record 26 points, set in the fall of 1999.

With the help of these two offensive machines, the Quakers have blasted their way to a 10-1-1 record, with a 3-1 mark in the Ivy League.

"I'm excited we're doing so well," Cross said. "But I'm not surprised. We all worked hard, so I figured we would be a decent team."

Although success has seemingly come easy for Cross and Snyder, both teammates worked very hard in the offseason. Snyder, for her part, overcame a right knee injury. She re-tweaked the injury in last Saturday's 2-1 win over Yale, however, keeping her questionable for today's non-league contest against Monmouth. But in addition to hard work, both Snyder and Cross attribute much of their success to plain luck.

"A lot of my goals were just part of being in the right place at the right time," Snyder said. "Katy's the one with all the assists... she's the real playmaker."

Cross, who with 10 assists was second in the nation in Division I as of Oct. 14, takes the opposite view from Snyder.

"Rachelle keeps saying that she's just in the right place at the right time," Cross said. "But it takes a lot to finish and put the ball in the net, too."

The Cross-Snyder connection has dominated Rhodes Field this season, and the chemistry between the two has been palpable.

"It wasn't really that weird being teammates with Rachelle, even though we were rivals in high school," Cross said. "I didn't hate her personally -- we've been able to laugh about things we hated about each other's teams."

Penn coach Darren Ambrose recruited the two high school standouts in very different ways. After getting the head coaching job before the 2000 season, Ambrose immediately began to woo Cross.

"I began to watch Katy play two weeks after I got the job at a tournament in Houston," Ambrose said. "She impressed me right from the start. I knew we had to recruit her."

Snyder, however, took an entirely different route. After seeing her at a Columbus Day tournament, which is very late in the recruiting process, Ambrose figured she already had signed with another school.

Snyder caught Ambrose's eye again later in October, and he decided to make contact with her. Ambrose found out that she was undecided, and that Snyder showed interest in Penn. The high school senior rushed her application through the admissions office, applying regular decision, and was accepted.

"After she decided to come to Penn, the major soccer powers began to show some interest in her," Ambrose said. "She was almost one that got away."

Although he envisioned Cross as a starter from the moment her recruited her, Ambrose had a different view of what to do with Snyder. At the start of the season, Ambrose was considering moving Snyder to defender, a position she had met with success on her club team.

"We knew we had Katy up front, and we thought we might need some defensive help," Ambrose said. "But in the end, Rachelle is just too dangerous up front to play in the back. She's an unusual case...I'm glad everything worked out."

Easing into life in Philadelphia has been surprisingly easy for the two California girls. Despite the assertions of both that the weather is too cold already, they both enjoy the city, or at least the seven blocks around campus that they know so far.

"Philly is the total opposite of San Diego," Snyder said. "I used to live in just this beach town, and now I'm in a huge city. I like it, though."

In a bit of apparent foresight by the Penn's housing offices, the two are situated directly across the hall from each other in their Quad dormitory, and they frequently eat, study and socialize with each other.

As the season winds down and the Red and Blue get into the heart of the Ivy schedule, Cross and Snyder have gotten into the spirit of the Ancient Eight. The once-upstart Quakers are now tied for second and are beginning to hear murmurs of making a run for the title.

"It's hard to predict, and Princeton and Harvard are going to be tough opponents," Cross said. "Every Ivy game has been close so far, and the last three probably won't be any different."

The Quakers' two star freshmen have quickly moved into a leadership position on the field. For their final five opponents and an anticipated NCAA tournament berth, Snyder has a bright outlook.

"Right now we're enjoying being the underdog," she said. "We're not scared of anybody."

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