For the Penn women's soccer team, a piece of history has gone nearly unnoticed this season.
Junior forward Katy Cross is one assist away from tying the all-time Quakers' points record of 68, set by Andrea Callaghan from 1996 to 1999. If she scores a goal, she will break the record, as goals are worth two points.
But coach Darren Ambrose and his team have barely thought about it this year, much less talked about it. Heading into games this weekend against Saint Louis and UNC-Greensboro, however, attention will be firmly placed on Penn's star goal scorer.
"It doesn't register with us and it doesn't register with her," Ambrose said. "She's not the kind of player that looks at her own game and her own stats."
Although Cross may be modest off the field, her accomplishments on the field have garnered attention across the Ivy League and the nation.
She is a known quantity as far away as Berkeley, Calif. When the University of California, then ranked fourth in the country, played at Rhodes Field last year, Cross scored Penn's second goal against the Golden Bears. The Quakers went on to lose the game 4-2.
But this year, the focus has been off the Claremont, Calif., native and more on the team's other attacking threats -- particularly junior Rachelle Snyder and sophomore Carolyn Cross, each of whom has contributed a game-winner in Penn's 2-0 start.
"At this point, we're not even talking about it -- this year everyone else is scoring," Ambrose said. "[Katy's] helping with the assists, and people are putting the ball in the goal."
Cross, who served up the game-winning assist to Carolyn Cross in double overtime against Lafayette last Saturday, could not be reached for comment.
She has thus far accrued 67 points in her Penn career, with 26 goals and 15 assists.
Callaghan tallied 28 goals and 12 assistsin her career.
But the only record the team is focused on right now is that of wins and losses this season, and that will change this weekend with two games at the Princeton Soccer Classic in Princeton, N.J.
Ambrose is preparing the Quakers for two of the best teams they will face all season -- Saint Louis today and UNC-Greensboro on Sunday. Penn rarely faces the two squads, because they are situated out of the normal geographical range for an Ivy League team.
UNC-Greensboro is 2-1-1, and St. Louis is 3-0 on the season.
But Ambrose has done what he can to get ready, and took positives from yesterday's final practice before the weekend's games.
"I think [the players] realize that this is a big weekend for our program."
Ambrose says that from what he's seen of the Billikens, "they've got a dangerous player up top, a dangerous player in the midfield and apparently a very good player out wide."
However, Ambrose added that St. Louis would not be the only team out there today with scoring threats.
"I could say that about our team," he said. "We're psychologically prepared; I think we're pretty fit, and we're playing quite well."
Ambrose said he knows "a little bit about Greensboro, but at this point, we're not sharing that with anybody."
Junior midfielder and team co-captain Lauren Bome believes that the two games are "going to be a good challenge for us."
But she is also optimistic about what the team can produce this weekend.
"We made some great strides since the beginning of the season," Bome said, "so it'll be exciting to watch."
Star-Crossed Junior forward Katy Cross is approaching a pair of Penn women's soccer records as the team heads to this weekend's Princeton Soccer Classic in Princeton, N.J. Penn's all-time points leader: Andrea Callaghan holds the current points record. She had 68 total points from 1996-99. Hot on her heels: Cross has 26 goals and 15 assists for 67 career points. And only a junior: Andrea Callaghan played in 69 games in her Penn career. This weekend will mark the 38th and 39th games of Cross's career.
