The Penn women's soccer team finds itself in the calm before the storm. Beginning Saturday, the Quakers enter the final two weeks of the regular season, during which three out of their four games will be played against Ivy League squads, with a chance to make history.
Should Penn, unbeaten in its last seven, win all three remaining league games, it would be the outright Ancient Eight champion. The Quakers (6-4-2, 3-0-1 Ivy) have never before accomplished this feat.
It would be a mistake, though, to forget entirely about today's game on the road against non-conference opponent Rider (9-3-2, 4-1-1 MAAC).
"Absolutely, [looking past a team] is always a danger," Penn junior defender Robin Watson said. "Especially with mid-week, out-of-league games."
Despite the situation, Penn coach Darren Ambrose is confident that the team will rise to the occasion.
"The girls have done a good job with that this year, of maintaining the focus," Ambrose said.
Although winning the league championship is a primary goal for the Red and Blue, the team is good enough this year to have serious NCAA Tournament aspirations. While winners of each conference are awarded automatic bids to the tournament, Penn could make the tournament even without finishing atop the Ivy standings if it could procure an at-large bid.
To accomplish this, however, the Quakers' non-conference record must be impressive enough to garner the necessary attention.
"There are a few games left in the season and [the players] realize that every one is a big step toward the postseason," Ambrose said. "Every game we play counts toward an NCAA bid if we don't win the league, for whatever reason."
And so, what looks on the surface to be an unimportant game on the schedule at Rider turns out to be just as crucial as the contests following it.
The Broncs also have a lot at stake this afternoon in Lawrenceville, N.J. Enjoying its best season in recent years, Rider is second only to Loyola in its conference standings.
"They've got a new coach, Kevin Long, who has done a fantastic job of kind of turning them around," Ambrose said. "Traditionally, they haven't been that strong of a team.
"This year, they're having the best year they've ever had. So we expect a team that's ready to play, ready to play us -- it'll be a big game on their schedule and they're trying to prepare for their conference tournament, so it should be an opportunity for them to kind of prove something as well."
However, the Quakers are confident they will come out ready to play and defeat Rider.
"With our senior group, they only have a few games left to compete, so obviously for them it's an opportunity to step out together and play," Ambrose said. "And we're playing well, we're still playing well. I'm very pleased with the focus."
"We haven't lost any momentum coming out of Dartmouth, which is good, which is always a scary case after a heartbreaking tie like that," Watson said. On Sunday, the Big Green forced a 1-1 tie against Penn on a last-second goal.
"But the feeling seems really good, and the momentum is really strong, so it's a good feeling coming in," Watson added.
The Quakers return to their Ivy League schedule this weekend when they travel to New Haven, Conn., for a showdown with Yale. The Elis are currently 2-1 in Ancient Eight competition.
