A tale of two teams will be on display tonight at UMBC Stadium.
Storming through an impressive three-game win streak, the Penn field hockey team rolls into a non-conference bout with the slumping University of Maryland-Baltimore County.
The formerly goal-starved Quakers (6-7, 2-2 Ivy) have been lighting up the scoreboard recently, scoring eight times in their past three contests. They look to continue the string of strong offensive performances tonight in Baltimore.
After scoring only 11 goals in 10 games prior to this streak, the Quakers' offense has come alive. During this three-game stretch, the Red and Blue has been led by junior midfielder Nicole Black and senior forward Tracy Statter. Each has scored three goals.
"We have been getting a lot of goals out of the left-wing spot," assistant coach Jeremy Cook said. "That shows that things are clicking."
In field hockey, the left-wing spot- also referred to as the weak side- often serves as a barometer of the effectiveness of an offense. Black and Statter have been splitting time at the position.
Tonight's game against UMBC marks Penn's 10th against a non-conference opponent this season. Though the game is away, the surface at UMBC stadium is the same as at Franklin Field. The Quakers will try to use this to their advantage in order to reach .500 for the first time this season.
On the other end of the spectrum, the Retrievers (1-11, 0-3 America East) are desperately looking for a goal, let alone a win.
The team is currently on a six-game losing streak and has only picked up one win over the entire season. UMBC has been shut out six times, including an embarrassing 9-0 loss to Boston University earlier this month.
However, the Retrievers still have reasons for to be optimistic. This is only their sixth year in Division I and the first under coach Lauren Fuchs.
With this recent string of successes, it seems as though the Quakers also have reason for optimism.
While Penn is still mathematically in the hunt for a league title, many, including Cook, consider the Quakers, with their two losses, out of Ivy League contention. However, they believe that strong performances this year can carry into next season.
"We are very confident [about next year]," Cook said. "We have a lot of underclassmen that have been stepping up; we will do well."
After tonight, both teams finish their schedules with conference battles: UMBC completes its schedule with Maine, while Penn takes on Yale, Brown and current Ivy leader Princeton.
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