So far this season, Penn lacrosse has given up just 35 goals. Yale's Lauren Taylor already has 26 on her own.
When the two teams clash at Franklin Field on Saturday, something's gotta give.
Penn will take on the Elis in its first Ivy League contest of the season, with each team coming into the match ranked in the top 20 in the latest IWLCA poll - Penn (4-1) at No. 16 and Yale (4-2) at No. 18.
Despite giving up 13 goals to No. 2 Northwestern in a loss last week, Penn has stymied opponents this year, giving up only seven goals a game.
The Quakers will have to continue their solid play in their own end if they hope to slow down Taylor, who is shooting at a blistering rate of .667.
"We have a defense that's going to focus on shutting her down and usually if we can shut down one of their key players we can do a good job with the rest of their attack," sophomore midfielder Kaitlyn Lombardo said of Taylor, who has scored on all but one of her shots on goal.
Taylor is not the Elis' only weapon though. Kat Peetz comes into the game with 13 goals while freshman Jenn Warden has 11 in six games.
"They have three key players and I think if we can shut them down then we'll do fine," Penn coach Karin Brower said. "I think we're harder to shut down because we have a lot of scorers."
The next-highest scorer after the top three for Yale has only five goals, while with one less game played, Penn has five players with five goals or more. Freshman Ali DeLuca leads the Quakers' balanced attack with 12.
For each team, the game is the first step in the battle for the Ivy League crown, something Penn has never achieved.
"This game is a big one because we have high hopes of winning the Ivy League," Lombardo said. "All of our games are big, but this one is special."
If the recent past between these two teams is any indication, the game should be a thriller. Each of their last two meetings has ended with a single-goal Penn victory; last year, a 9-8 overtime victory came only after two overtimes.
There, Penn started out with a 5-1 lead before giving up four unanswered goals in the second half.
"The first Ivy game has always been a good game with Yale, so we're not expecting anything less," Brower said.
Though this year's game may again be key in deciding the Ivy champion, the Quakers say they will not change their style of play.
"We need to go out and play hard, play our game of lacrosse," Lombardo said. "If we play Penn lacrosse, I think we'll be fine."
With two of the nation's best teams going at it and one of the nation's best scorers in Taylor, it should be an exciting game, no matter who ends up winning.
