W. Lax preps for aggressive Rutgers

When the Penn women's lacrosse team trudged out to practice yesterday, amidst the dreary, rainy April weather, they knew exactly what to expect.

"Ground balls, heart and hustle. Those are things that we should as a young team, be able to do and should want to do," Penn coach Karin Brower said. "We're going to make some mental errors out there, I think that's a given with our team make-up.

"But the heart and the hustle, that's something that anyone can have. I think that's what we really want to strive for."

The squad picked up its sticks, warmed up and began a workout that all knew would consist of plenty of groundball drills in preparation for tomorrow's matchup against Rutgers.

Although the Quakers (5-4, 2-2 Ivy) will not be challenging an Ivy League opponent tomorrow, the team is not about to take their opposition lightly. With two losses in the Ancient Eight already, the possibility of a league title is not likely.

Therefore, if the Red and Blue hope to be playing in the post-season, they need a regional bid.

"Its a regional game, so its almost more important than the Ivy League," Penn junior Christy Bennett said. "We don't necessarily look for the Ivy bid, but we look for a regional one."

Rutgers (5-6, 1-2 Big East) is known for its physically aggressive game.

"The biggest thing I think is that they're a really physical team," Bennett said. "I think that's the biggest thing that we're not used to playing. All the other teams that we play are as good or better than Rutgers."

In addition to its tough playing style, Rutgers also boasts one of the top defenders on the East Coast.

Scarlet Knights' senior goalie Lauren Gulotta was named this week's Big East co-defensive player of the week.

In Rutgers' stunning 10-9 victory over No. 7 Syracuse last weekend, Gulotta notched an impressive 16 saves and was able to defend a total of 26 shots on goal.

In the 568 minutes that Gulotta has played thus far this season, she has tallied 109 saves, but has allowed for 82 goals. With a 57.1 save percentage this season, Gulotta has the third-best goalie statistics in the Big East.

"They have a really good goalie, we're going to have to really work around that," Brower said. "I just really want to really play our own game... Plus, they just had a big win against Syracuse, so they're on a high right now."

The Quakers, who are currently on a three-game winning streak have proved themselves to be a solid team. However, the still haven't taken that extra step needed to clinch their reputation as one of the nation's top squads.

Penn, who was ranked in the top-20 early in the season, has since slipped from the poll and are now unranked.

This may be to the team's advantage, as the Quakers continue to work on returning to the most basic components of the game.

"The team that wants it is going to win it," Brower said.

Tomorrow afternoon, the Red and Blue plan hustle to every play, focus on improving their own game and determinedly scrounge for all of those ground balls.

"We were in the training room today and somebody asked, 'what do you think we're going to do today?' And everybody said, 'ground balls,'" Bennett said. "Its pretty much a given."

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