When the Quakers head to Princeton tomorrow, don't expect the atmosphere on the field to be warm and fuzzy.
"They're Princeton, so we don't like them," Penn forward Molly Weir said. "There's always this tension, and it makes us want to beat them even more."
The well-known rivalry between the two schools has become a focal point for many of the schools' athletic competitions, and tomorrow's tussle is no exception.
"It's a huge rivalry against Princeton," Quakers senior captain Tracy Bienenfeld said. "I think there's always tension. . Personally, between football, basketball and everything, I know that we do not like Princeton."
As the Red and Blue heads into its final regular-season game tomorrow, it's trying to learn from mistakes made over the course of a long, arduous season. While Penn has had much success, its weakest attribute, inexperience, reared its ugly head during some key losses.
The most perplexing element of the Quakers' year may be the team's record. Penn (8-4-3, 1-3-2 Ivy) has lost only one non-conference game, while its Ancient Eight performance has been weak.
Although no player seems to have a definite explanation for the team's Ivy woes, Weir blames the struggles on the same immaturity and inexperience that has plagued the Quakers all season.
"It's kind of hard to explain," she said. "But I think that since we're such a young team, we don't understand the power of Ivy League games."
Tomorrow's contest against the Tigers (7-7-1, 2-4-0) has extra significance for the seniors on the team. For players such as Bienenfeld and defensive mainstay Megan Boys, this game signals the end of their college soccer careers. They will pass the torch to the young guns of the squad, who are led by freshman phenom and leading scorer (9) Jessica Fuccello, the most recent recipient of Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors.
Quakers head coach Darren Ambrose is hoping to give his seniors a good send-off with a resounding victory. To do this, he is focused on building off the positives from Penn's most recent game, a 2-2 tie against Brown Sunday.
"It was a great effort for the team," Ambrose said of the home game. "We looked very dangerous for most of the game; we created a lot of chances."
The coach also placed much emphasis on sticking with the methods that have served his team well all season.
"We're not changing anything," he said. "There's no 'game plan' as in the sense that we have to do this, that and the other. If we do what we've done all year - battle hard and play the way we've played - then we'll obviously eliminate mistakes."
