Penn women's soccer team head coach Darren Ambrose was asked whether he was planning any changes for today's game at George Mason, after the Quakers' 2-1 loss at Harvard last Saturday.
The reply: "No."
So Penn (3-1-2, 0-1 Ivy) will head to Fairfax, Va., for the 4 p.m. kickoff with the same offense which has scored 11 goals from 80 shots in their first six games this season.
And with Penn and George Mason (4-2-3) tied for the No. 10 ranking in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Mid-Atlantic Regional poll, this game has plenty of significance.
"This game means a lot more than we anticipated it meaning," senior defender Heather Issing said. "It's a rebound game... it's a must win, to be honest."
Beyond alleviating what Issing calls "a bitter taste in our mouths from Harvard," the Patriots came to Rhodes Field last season and won, 2-0, despite being outshot by the Red and Blue, 17-6.
"We felt like we outplayed them last year and lost in a game that we dominated," Ambrose said. Today "will be a tough game and the girls know it."
Although junior forward Katy Cross has scored five of the Quakers' goals this season, other players have found the back of the net at key times as well -- including freshman Samantha Spencer, who scored the first goal of her collegiate career against the Crimson.
"I'm happy for Sammy," Ambrose said. "That's a great way to start your college career on a goal -- and to score at Harvard in that kind of a game."
Ambrose said that he "expected" other players to help spark the offense this season, but that this hasn't increased or decreased the pressure on Cross to lead the way.
"You expect Katy to score goals -- she's a forward, that's her job," he said. "After her freshman year she was a marked player. It doesn't matter if she scores zero goals or scores 300 goals... teams are going to pay attention to her."
"She knows [the pressure] is coming and she's handled it, so far this year, very well," he added.
Today's game was originally scheduled for Friday, Sept. 19, but was moved to today due to Hurricane Isabel. Penn was originally scheduled to play Lehigh at Rhodes Field today, and that game will now be held on Oct. 29.
"We've got to play [George Mason] sometime," Ambrose said. "And we were scheduled to play them on the road, anyway, so it's no big deal."
But Issing believes that there may be a slight effect on the team as a result of the change in plans.
"I'm not going to lie when I say it's difficult to travel that far and to get yourselves mentally prepared after your day of classes or whatnot for midweek games," she said. "Midweek games are always rough."
