W. Soccer poised to slow down Elis' Karnes

Last Oct. 26, the Penn and Yale women's soccer teams tied, 1-1, in a double overtime thriller.

This year, Penn should try to avoid a golden goal situation against the Elis, given that Yale sophomore midfielder Laurel Karnes has a habit of scoring game-winning goals.

Karnes -- who leads the Ivy League in game-winning goals and is tied for sixth in points -- has netted a game-winner in four of the Elis' seven wins this season, including a double overtime score in Yale's most recent game, a 2-1 victory over Cornell, and another in its prior game against Colgate.

These goals landed Karnes on the Ivy League Honor Roll for this week.

But the Quakers (6-4-3, 1-2-1 Ivy) aren't worried about what Yale (7-5-1, 1-2-1) will do. They're more focused on perfecting their own game.

"We just want to play our game," junior midfielder Lydia Bojcun said. "If we come out focused and prepared, then it will be a good game. We're not going to change too much of anything on our side."

Penn looked to be "focused and prepared" in the first half of Wednesday's game at Villanova, but fell apart in the second half en route to a 4-0 defeat.

"The intensity just dropped in the second half," Bojcun said.

It will be important to play well for all 90 minutes if Penn hopes to come away with its second Ivy win of the year.

"The past couple of games we have struggled," Bojcun said. "This game can get us back on track."

Yale has struggled so far this season, especially when compared to last year when the Elis advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

While it was assumed that 2002 Northeast Region Coach of the Year Rudy Meredith's biggest challenge this season would be finding a new starting goalie to replace Lindsay Sabel, junior Sarah Walker has filled the position well. She is in the top half of the league in saves, shutouts and goals against average.

Yale's offense, on the other hand, has not been able to recover from the loss of three of last year's top five scorers, including Eleni Benson who, while she did not graduate, took the year off to try out for the Greek National Team for the 2004 Olympics.

Yale finds itself ranked seventh in the league in scoring.

Besides Karnes --who leads the team with seven goals -- no Elis player has more than three goals.

Despite Yale's offensive woes, the Quakers will surely have their hands full when two of the three teams tied for fifth in the Ivies collide.

Bojcun is confident that Penn will prevail.

"They're a good team," she said. "I think personally we're a better team."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.