With four Ivy League contests remaining, the Penn field hockey team needs to win only two of them to clinch its second winning season in the Ancient Eight in the last five years.
After a 2-1 victory at Temple on Wednesday left the Quakers undefeated (5-0) in the Philadelphia Six conference, Penn (7-4, 2-1 Ivy) feels poised to accomplish this feat.
"The Temple game gives us a boost of momentum heading into [tonight's] game at Columbia," Penn coach Val Cloud said. "We want to keep the win streak going."
When asked whether she preferred to go undefeated in the Philly Six or finish with a winning record in the Ivies, Cloud did not pause to consider about it.
"Ivies, no question."
The Quakers are currently playing their best hockey in years, riding a five-game winning streak on five come-from-behind victories. While only one of these wins was against an Ivy opponent, Cloud insists that the non-league games were good practice for the remainder of their Ivy League schedule.
"We have definitely improved on both offense and [the] defensive side of the ball," Cloud said. "We are ready to make a stand against other Ivy teams."
Junior Liz Lorelli keeps providing the offensive spark for the Quakers. She has scored the game-winning goal in four of the five consecutive wins.
Lorelli, who has tallied 12 goals and two assists this season, is four goals away from breaking the all-time Penn record in goals, held by former Penn star Nicky Hitchens, now an assistant coach at Drexel.
"Just as long as the team is scoring, I'm happy," Lorelli said. "I'm not such a big fan of individual statistics in general."
But while Lorelli remains modest about her potential to break the record, her coach recognizes that she is the main reason for Penn's recent success on the field.
"She's basically unstoppable. They've been double teaming her and she just gets a stick on the ball," Cloud said. "She is great at tipping the ball and getting it in."
While the Quakers look to extend their winning streak to six games, they will have to do it against a team hungry for a win.
Columbia's field hockey team (1-11, 0-3 Ivy) has been struggling this year, opening the season with 10 consecutive losses before recording their only victory to date, a 3-0 blanking of St. Francis (N.Y.). The Lions have been shut out in six out of their 11 losses.
"Columbia has been struggling, but they are always a tough battle," Cloud said.
After a series of games against local opponents, the Quakers are anxious to show off their winning record against an Ivy League opponent.
"We know we are a good team, but now we have the record to prove it," junior Bernice Raveche said last week. "Now that we're on the winning side of things overall, we want to make a stand in the Ivy League."
