F. Hockey hosts crosstown rival

A natural city series rivalry begins anew at 7 p.m. tonight, as the Penn field hockey team hosts La Salle for the first meeting between these two Philadelphia schools since 1978.

The match will also mark the Explorers' first-ever visit to Franklin Field.

The all-time series is tied at one game apiece, with La Salle taking that 1978 match, 3-2. Penn shut out the Explorers in 1976, 3-0.

"Their program just recently got more support from their Athletic Department," Penn coach Val Cloud said. "We had a hole in our schedule and they are a local team."

The Quakers are glad to be hosting the match instead of traveling to the notoriously bad grass on La Salle's dual-purpose soccer and field hockey field.

"The field is just awful there," Cloud said. "We did agree to reciprocate next year, but we'll worry about that then."

The Explorers have had a hard time finding the back of the net this season. They have not tallied a goal in the course of their current six-game losing streak -- a slide that has pushed La Salle's record down to 2-7.

La Salle's scoreless streak is on the verge of reaching 400 minutes.

The Quakers (1-6 record) understand the importance of scoring first against an opponent that has fallen on hard times.

"It's definitely important to get off to a good start," Penn senior co-captain Monique Horshaw said. "We need to get a goal right away and score first on the opponent."

"We just have to go out there and make a statement at the start," Cloud added. "We have to make sure they have no confidence."

Penn's confidence is still sky-high following Saturday's upset win over Dartmouth. Tuesday's 2-1 loss to Villanova has done little to take away that enthusiasm.

"We played well, we just didn't put the ball in the net," Cloud said of the loss. "That was the only difference; the stats were very even. We played very well, and they're a good team."

Given both La Salle and Penn's penchant for playing low-scoring games, a lot of offense should not be expected tonight on Franklin Field.

"We just don't have consistent firepower up front," Cloud said. "It just means we have to work that much harder."

Hard work is not something the Red and Blue will shy away from, however.

"We just have to be more physical and aggressive, both offensively and defensively," Penn sophomore goalie Carrie Wilhelm said. "And we have to get more balls on the cage."

And going into tonight's game against a struggling opponent, the Quakers are bubbling with confidence.

"We expect to win this game," Wilhelm said. "We expect to win them all."

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