Feels like the first time: Ivy title in reach for F. Hockey

It has been a season of change for the Penn field hockey team.

Coming off a 3-14 campaign, Penn has tied last year's win total in Ivy victories alone and has put itself in control of its own destiny to grab the Ivy League crown.

The Quakers (5-9, 3-1 Ivy League) currently sit tied with Harvard for second in the Ancient Eight rankings, and will face both the Crimson and first-place Princeton in their final games of the season.

"We know that we have to play well in the next three games, but we have to put it all together," Penn captain Nikki Battiste said.

While Harvard and Princeton loom closely on the horizon, Penn will travel to Providence, R.I., this Saturday to face a competitive Brown squad. The Bears sit just one spot below the Quakers in the tightly contested Ivy race.

Last year Brown dominated the Quakers, definitively grabbing a 5-0 win. The Bears also took the 1999 bout with Penn.

Yet this is not the same Quakers team from last year.

"I think the fact that we feel like a new team and have confidence makes us go into the game ready to win," Batiste said.

For a win to come, a complete 70 minutes of sustained intensity will be essential against Brown.

During Penn's most recent loss to nationally ranked Penn State on Wednesday, the Quakers remained within one goal throughout the first half and tied the score in the opening minutes of the second half.

After that, however, Penn State dominated the Penn defense and capitalized with four unanswered goals.

With three games remaining, and a -- dare we say it? -- title berth on the line, Penn's lifeline may end up being its ability to finish games.

Improvement for the Quakers has been self evident thus far in the season. Yet the team's true test will be in its final three games of the season, three matchups against the toughest competition in the Ivy League.

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