Quakers are fighting fire with fire

As soon as sophomore midfielder Natalie Capuano's feet left the ground, it was clear that this game was going to be a little bit different.

The Penn women's soccer team captain didn't hesitate to launch herself headfirst into a crowd of Hofstra players, gaining possession and setting the tone early for the Quakers' 1-0 victory Friday.

From the onset of the weekend's Penn Invitational, Penn knew that if it wanted to press a talented Hofstra team and build some momentum for its game against Richmond on Sunday, it couldn't hang back and be passive.

Before the game, Hofstra coach Simon Riddiough came out and said that his team would need to be physical to compete with Penn. The Pride took Rhodes Field hungry, and were able to do just that.

"We knew coming into it they were a tough, physical team," Capuano said. "We couldn't come out tentative at all, so I think we battled with them."

Penn coach Darren Ambrose agreed with his captain, and praised Hofstra for its ability to play rough while avoiding playing dirty.

"They play hard, and that's how the game should be played," Ambrose said.

Ambrose was also impressed with the way that his team rose to the challenge. The Quakers "played hard, they played fair, they won a lot of tackles."

But this may have come at a price.

Freshman forward Marisa Stock, one of the team's most prominent newcomers, was forced to leave the game in the second half when she injured her leg. It is not yet known how serious the injury is, but Stock stayed down for a couple of minutes after being hurt and missed the Richmond game on Sunday.

Still, the Quakers will need to get in there and scrap every game in order to keep their opponent honest.

But in their game on Sunday, it isn't clear whether they did so.

While Penn did get a notch in the win column, it was clearly unhappy with its play. The Spiders found ways to get under the skin of the Quakers, who needed 109 minutes to secure the victory.

A major factor was Richmond's relentless pressure on the ball. The Spiders racked up 16 fouls on the game, while the Quakers were only penalized seven times.

While Richmond likely did not go out looking to accumulate fouls, its rough play certainly disrupted the Quakers' strategy and took them out of their comfort zone - until the ball found its way to the foot of Tracy Bienenfeld and into the net, they had clearly been pressing.

Even so, Penn comes out of this weekend with something to build off of.

"We needed to see, 'Could our kids handle that? Would they respond?'" Ambrose said. "And I give my kids 100-percent credit because they did."

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