High-scoring Penn women's soccer forward Katy Cross might finally be meeting her match tomorrow against a high-powered Yale offense.
Penn (5-6-2, 1-1-2 Ivy League) will travel to New Haven, Conn., on Saturday, where the Elis have lost only once this season in a 2-0 decision to perennial power Princeton. The Tigers remain the only undefeated team in the country at 12-0.
Yale's offense, which has outscored its opponents 26-11, has a potent mix of youthful enthusiasm and senior experience.
One of the Elis' leading scorers is midfielder Laurel Karnes. Karnes, a freshman, burst onto the scene this year, scoring seven goals and handing out two assists.
Yale's offense receives senior leadership from forward Chandra King. The team's second leading scorer last year, King has netted four goals and assisted four times so far this season.
The Elis will enter tomorrow afternoon's match riding a wave of confidence after winning two games this past week.
Yale (8-3-1, 2-2) knocked off Harvard last Saturday in a 3-2 overtime thriller before taking care of Fairfield 3-0 on Tuesday afternoon.
The Quakers are well aware of the Elis' potent offense.
"They will definitely come out in an attacking mode," sophomore defender Jessica Woodward said. "They don't back down from anyone."
Cross will have to help the Quakers' offense hold its ground.
Currently both the team and the Ivy League's leading scorer with 28 points, Cross is just six points shy of tying Penn's record for all-time points.
The record, currently held by Andrea Callaghan, who graduated in 1999, stands at 68 points. Last season, Cross finished up with 34 points on 12 goals and 10 assists. This year, she has already accumulated 28 points by scoring 12 goals and assisting four times.
As Cross closes in on the record, the Red and Blue have spent this week focusing not on individual goals but on the task at hand -- defeating Yale.
"We have had four extremely solid and productive practices," Woodward said. "The team has a positive attitude right now."
"Everyone is getting up for this weekend's game because of how successful practice has been and how we played last week."
Though Penn has been training hard for the Yale match, the result will solely be a matter of pride.
The Quakers up and down play, along with Princeton's 5-0 Ivy League record, has mathematically ended Penn's chances of defending last year's Ivy League crown.
Still, the Red and Blue are not playing as if they are out of the race.
"We want to prove to ourselves that we can put it together on the field as a team," Woodward said. "Right now we are playing for ourselves more than anyone else."
