The Penn women's soccer team is starting to look more and more like the banged-up Philadelphia 76ers.
With five players injured and several others ailing, the Quakers travel to Brown this Saturday to play an important Ivy League matchup.
The Quakers (10-1-2, 3-1 Ivy League) are currently tied for second with Harvard in the Ivies, with Princeton on top at 4-0. The Tigers beat the Crimson, 2-1, in overtime last Saturday.
"This will be the biggest game of our season so far," Penn coach Darren Ambrose said. "If we win this game, then we can make a run at the Ivy title."
Penn has never won the Ivy League in the program's 10-year history. The Quakers' best finish in the Ancient Eight came two years ago, when all that separated them from a perfect Ivy record was a Harvard overtime goal.
It would seem that the Bears (3-7-1, 0-3-1) should be an easy opponent for the upstart Quakers. However, the Red and Blue's ailments pose a major problem.
Tri-captains Sarah Campbell (Achilles) and Jen Valentine (quad strain) are battling injuries. Valentine was sidelined for Wednesday's 1-1 tie with Monmouth in New Jersey.
In addition, sophomore Heather Issing continues to fight a foot injury, while freshman frontliners Rachelle Snyder (knee) and Katy Cross (pink eye) are also hobbled.
"We're going to have to play a lot better than we did [on Wednesday]," Ambrose said. "Despite Brown's record, we're not taking them lightly."
The Quakers will have to work on distributing the ball more effectively against Brown. In Wednesday's tie, the Quakers did not switch fields often with long crosses -- and the offense suffered because of it.
Ambrose gave his team an off-day yesterday in order to recover from his squad's plethora of injuries, and he hopes to recover in time for Saturday's big game.
"We have to regroup and get our composure back," Ambrose said. "Hopefully we'll be able to focus and put chances away on Saturday."
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