Quakers, Colonials to meet for first time ever

The similarities are striking: Last year, a 6-2-2 women's soccer team lost 1-0 to Columbia and was unable to recover, winning just one of its final five games.

Today, four days after playing some of their worst soccer of the season, the Quakers are looking to rebound from another 1-0 defeat by the Lions and avoid a repeat of last year's failures down the stretch.

Penn (6-3-1, 1-2 Ivy) will face off against Robert Morris (5-7) for the first time ever this evening at Rhodes Field.

The Quakers managed no goals on six shots in Saturday's loss. Coach Darren Ambrose, who after that game said his team didn't battle, hopes that the shutout will help his young players grow.

The coaches "just told them it's an opportunity to get on the right track, to learn from the mistakes," Ambrose said.

The Quakers coach said that tonight's game against the "very blue collar, work hard, don't quit" Colonials will provide a good test for his inexperienced players. Ambrose stressed the need to maintain discipline and composure.

Sophomore captain Natalie Capuano agreed, adding that the Quakers need a strong start tonight.

"We need to come out like we did against Lafayette, like we have something to prove and play hard," Capuano said in reference to a 3-0 win against the Leopards last week. "We have to play like we want to be out there and win the game."

Effort, however, is only part of the solution. Penn has netted just 12 goals in 10 games and has struggled offensively throughout the season.

Ambrose said scoring is a matter of "being calm, not panicking, taking advantage of the chances that we create."

The Quakers have also worked on their play in the final third, where they have struggled the most. Freshman Jess Rothenheber said, however, there are no plans to change their approach.

"We're getting off a lot of shots; they just haven't gone our way," she said. "Sooner or later, we'll start scoring."

Despite the offensive struggles and poor effort on Saturday, Ambrose is very happy with the progress of his team, which has 17 underclassmen.

"Out of 10 games, there was one game that I can look at and say we probably didn't deserve to win," Ambrose said, referring to Saturday's performance. "So we're putting ourselves in situations to win games, and I think that's as much as you can ask for from a team that's learning the ropes."

Improvement and learning the ropes, however, are not enough to satisfy Capuano and her teammates.

"Our goal is 10 wins," she said. "We still want to make the tournament."

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