The Drexel women's lacrosse team won't be walking far to its first game this year, but it will be uphill all the way.
On Saturday, No. 18 Penn will begin its quest for a NCAA Tournament berth when it takes on Drexel at Franklin Field - just a few short blocks away from the heart of Drexel's campus.
The contest will be the first of the year for both schools, as they look to dust themselves off after the long off-season and prepare to dive headlong into their respective league schedules.
The Dragons - who compete in the Colonial Athletic Association - will come into Franklin Field sporting an impressive 24-game winning streak in nonconference play, though they managed to win just two of seven conference meetings.
Though Drexel has enjoyed plenty of success against nonconference opponents over the past few years, it has not faced Penn during that stretch, much less another Ivy League team.
Still, after the Dragons jumped out to a program-best 8-0 start last season - in which they compiled an overall record of 12-5 - Drexel might harbor hopes of pulling off an upset against the Quakers.
The Dragons lost only a pair of starters from last season to graduation and return a strong core of players that had set school records in a slew of different statistical categories.
Senior Emily Hoesch leads the attack, having scored 54 goals in 2006 to set the single-season program record for the second consecutive year, beating her old mark.
After coming off of a stellar rookie season, a more experienced Lauren LaBella will anchor the squad as starting goalkeeper.
Nonetheless, Drexel will have to contend with a nationally ranked Penn team that is primed to take down much bigger opponents later on in the season.
The two teams scrimmaged together in the fall, but according to Penn coach Karin Brower and her players, the Quakers have little knowledge about their neighbors.
"We don't know that much about them," Brower said. "It's really about us this week."
Penn's senior tri-captain Chrissy Muller added that the team hasn't devoted much time to scouting Drexel, instead choosing to "focus on ourselves."
After easing into the season at home this weekend, the Quakers will branch out into a different section of Philadelphia to play Temple next Wednesday.
