Defeating the No. 10 Princeton women's lacrosse team, which hasn't lost a game in league play and is on a five-game winning streak, doesn't seem like an easy task.
Add to that the fact that No. 20 Penn has not beaten Princeton since 1993.
But that's what Penn (8-5, 3-2 Ivy) will try to do tonight when it takes on Princeton (7-4, 4-0) at the Class of 1952 Stadium in Princeton, N.J.
The biggest challenge Penn will have to overcome is the mental one.
"The whole thing that Princeton has over a lot of teams in this league is that they've been so dominant," coach Karin Brower said. "We need to not put them on a pedestal."
Brower has had first-hand experience with Tigers lacrosse. She was an assistant under current Princeton coach Chris Sailer from 1996-98 before she left to take the head coaching position at Penn.
"They have a very good trap," Brower said. "We have to be composed in that and bring the ball up confidently and safely."
The Quakers need a big boost in order to rebound after a tough 8-4 loss to Dartmouth last weekend, but senior Lauren McDermott thinks her team is prepared.
"There's no doubt in my mind that we have more confidence going into tomorrow's game than going against Dartmouth," she said.
The Quakers must also work to keep their turnovers to a minimum.
"They score more goals off caused turnovers and the trap than settles," Brower said. "It's really important that we break that and that our trap is successful as well."
The Tigers have also been a good closing team recently. In their last four games, the Ivy league leaders have only allowed a total of nine goals in the second half.
Princeton has also defeated Penn by at least five goals the last 12 times the two teams have met.
Although they are on a big winning streak, the Tigers aren't as high in the rankings as they were last year. At this time last season, they were fourth in the country, while Penn was No. 16.
Princeton needs to win two of its last three Ivy League games in order to clinch the league crown and receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
"We have to remember that they have everything to lose when it comes to us," McDermott said.
Yet the Tigers haven't lost since March 25, when they fell hard to No. 3 Virginia 16-3.
Another factor in tonight's game could be goalkeeping. One of Princeton's goalies -- Meg Murray, who had started multiple games this year -- left the team for personal reasons earlier this week, according to the Princeton athletics Web site.
Murray had been between the poles for a substantial part of the team's last four games. Colleen O'Boyle is the only goalie on the Tigers roster now.
Penn has a daunting mission tonight but also a chance to make history.
A win tonight "would make college," McDermott said. "I think I speak for all the seniors when I say that it would make all our careers."
