Three days after its seven-game winning streak was snapped at the hands of Ivy League rival Yale, the Penn field hockey team will try to rebound against a local foe.
Already undefeated against their foes in the Philadelphia City Six conference, the Quakers (9-5, 3-2 Ivy) will try to sweep all the regional teams on their schedule when they take on West Chester University today at 3 p.m.
While the Quakers still have two Ivy League games remaining, Penn coach Val Cloud is making sure that the Red and Blue will not take their last non-conference matchup of the season lightly.
"I think a lot of people overlook West Chester, they are really good," Cloud said. "They've come up with some good wins."
The Golden Rams (5-11) have played better this season than their record indicates. Four of their losses have come in overtime, while two others came at the hands of nationally ranked Penn State and Duke.
West Chester is also riding a two-game winning streak into today's game that has put them back into playoff contention in the Atlantic 10 conference.
While West Chester practices on a grass surface at home, they play all of their home games, including today's, on a turf field at Owen J. Roberts High School in Pottstown, Pa.
The Quakers will likely benefit from the change to the faster turf surface. Penn struggled offensively on a grass surface in a 1-0 victory over Saint Joseph's in its second game of the season.
West Chester "is a grass team, but I guess its [Owen J. Roberts] that we're playing at," Cloud said. "But they play a lot on turf, too, so they are a threat on both."
Junior Liz Lorelli will try to break the all-time Penn record for points in a season with a goal or an assist. The Ivy League leader in goals broke the all-time Penn record for goals in a season with her deflection that was ruled to be a goal only after the Quakers' 2-1 loss to Yale on Sunday.
After almost flawless play in wins over Columbia and Georgetown, the Quakers defense was outhustled in the second half by a determined Yale team. The Red and Blue let up eight penalty corners and failed to come up with any offense when trailing by one goal late.
"The problem was we gave up too many corners at the end," Cloud said. "We just couldn't finish them off."
Led by senior Emily Farnesi and freshman goalie Elizabeth Schlossberg, the Red and Blue defense is focusing on clearing the ball away from the cage in an attempt to give the Quakers' potent offense more chances with the ball.
"I think our defense was actually better than" Yale's, sophomore Kristen Gray said. "We just couldn't put them away when we needed to, but they are really athletic and get the job done."
