F. Hockey clawing to the top

What a difference a year can make.

Last season, the Penn field hockey team traveled to Princeton on an early November evening, completely out of contention after having lost four straight. The Tigers proceeded to put the finishing touches on their unbeaten Ivy season with a 9-0 victory, which also capped a winless Ancient Eight campaign for the Red and Blue.

Fast forward one year, and a whole new Penn team is ready to take on Princeton tonight at Franklin Field.

The Tigers (14-2, 6-0 Ivy League) are once again undefeated in the Ivies and in first place, but the Quakers (6-9, 4-1) are tight on their heels. If Penn can beat Princeton tonight and then Harvard on Monday, the Quakers will claim their first Ivy title since 1993.

"The biggest difference from last season is definitely our confidence," Penn senior co-captain Nikki Battiste said.

Still, tonight's match poses a formidable challenge. Princeton, which is ranked seventh in the nation and has won 51 out of its past 52 Ivy League games en route to eight straight Ancient Eight titles.

"Because they have such a good team we're getting really psyched up," Battiste said. "We're well prepared because we know we have to be to win [tonight]."

"I think that enough is enough," Penn coach Val Cloud said, referring to the Tiger's reign of dominance. "We all want a chance to beat them."

Princeton is led by junior Lvy Friebe, who has a remarkable 27 goals and 64 points in 16 games. By contrast, the Quakers' leading scorer, junior midfielder Kylee Jakobowski, has six goals and 15 points.

"We're going to put [senior co-captain defenseman Monique Horshaw] on her front and someone else on her back if necessary," Cloud said. "Mo's our No. 1 person on 'D.'"

However, No. 1 might not be 100 percent following a physical game against Brown last Saturday.

"[Horshaw] was shoved in the back twice and she has bad knees anyway," Cloud said. "She's a big reason we are where we are and I'm not going to get her to sit."

Penn counters the scoring prowess of Princeton with its stingy team defense, which leads the Ivy League in goals against in league play, having only given up four in five games.

The defensive effort is led by sophomore goalie Carrie Wilhelm, who is coming off her first shutout of the season against the Bears. Wilhelm has allowed only seven goals in the Quakers' last eight matches and is anxious to test her prowess against a nationally ranked rival.

"We know that they're good," Wilhelm said. "But we've worked all season to be prepared to play the good teams. You have to know that you're ready."

Princeton is lacking in one area that Penn has in excess: senior leadership. The Tigers have no seniors on their team, while the Quakers have four, including both captains.

"As good as they are, they do start three freshmen," Cloud said. "They are up and down [with their play]."

While the Ivy League crown is still up in the air, Penn's season is already considered a success by their coach.

"We were 0-7 last year and to have a winning season was my personal goal, and that was a reach goal," Cloud said. "I thought that if we were better than .500, which we are, we'd have come a long way."

However some of the players do not consider the turnaround done just yet.

"Obviously, we want to complete what we've been working towards all year," Wilhelm said.

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