If the Penn women's lacrosse team wants its first Ivy win of the year they'll have to improve upon one thing -- shooting.
The Quakers (2-7, 0-2 Ivy) have been ice cold lately, unable to put the ball in the net despite numerous opportunities, losing five straight.
"Shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot shoot," Penn coach Karin Brower said Tuesday night, after a 9-8 loss to Rutgers in which her Quakers outshot their opponents 28-15. "That's all we're going to do at practice."
Brower believes that it is up to each player on her team to improve accuracy.
"You need to go out and practice shooting on your own," she said. "You can't get enough time in practice. It's something that I've been preaching for four years, and it's frustrating for me that kids aren't doing it on their own -- only some of our underclassmen are a bit."
As long as her team starts shooting better, Brower believes that tomorrow's match at Columbia should be a victory.
But Columbia might have similar expectations.
"They've always thought that we're the easiest team for them to beat," Brower said. "When I inherited this program they were the only team that we could beat... so this is a huge game for us. I think if we play well we can win, but we have to put the ball in the net."
Indeed, Columbia was -- and continues to be -- the easiest prey in the highly competitive Ancient Eight, as the Lions have never won a league game.
Columbia has been outscored, 49-10, in conference games this season, falling to Cornell, Princeton and Dartmouth.
Last year, Penn trounced the Lions, 17-6, at Franklin Field.
But this is not the same Columbia team.
Kerri Whitaker was promoted from assistant to head coach in September and has reworked the team's offense and defense.
"Even though she was an assistant last year, I don't think we can expect the same thing at all," Brower said. "They're playing much better than they ever have. They just scored more goals against Dartmouth than they ever have in a game."
Whitaker also helped recruit a talented Columbia freshman class, including starting goalie Marcela Calidonio.
"They have a pretty good freshman class," Brower said. "Some of them are seeing some time, so this is a different team."
The Lions also have a strong experienced core of nine returning starters, led by senior co-captains Kristin Connors -- a scrappy defender -- and Liz Gilroy -- a talented passer.
Columbia will be lacking its most dangerous offensive player, junior Brittany Baschuk, who was diagnosed last weekend with a torn right anterior cruciate ligament.
Despite Columbia's flaws, Brower stresses that her Quakers must play well -- for the whole game -- to hold off a Lions team hungry for their first win.
"We need to play well for 60 minutes," she said. "We haven't played a good first half yet... we come alive at the end, but we need to do that from the first whistle."
