After proving a point, W. Lax must avoid letdown

On a six-game winning streak and at the head of the Ivy pack, the Penn women's lacrosse team can continue its roll tomorrow at Harvard.

And no one's guessing as to why.

Off to its best start ever, the team's success is due to its balanced attack - rather than relying on one or two star players - according to head coach Karin Brower.

"They're really fired up to prove something this year and that's just really exciting to watch," Brower said after Tuesday's win against Penn State.

Although Harvard (2-6, 0-1) is an Ivy League foe, Brower and her team will approach the game like any other, focusing on their own game plan.

With Harvard struggling thus far in its season, the Crimson will look to turn things around against Penn (9-1, 3-0).

"Penn is a good team and is playing great right now," Harvard head coach Sarah Nelson said. "Every Ivy League game is very important, and this one is no different, especially with Penn in first place. We look forward to the challenge of facing our fourth straight ranked team and know we'll need to come out ready to play for 60 minutes."

In its only other Ivy League match this season, Harvard lost to Yale last weekend, 17-8.

According to Nelson, her team has come out with strong defensive performances - but only for parts of each game. She feels if her team can keep up its defensive efforts throughout, then it will have a chance to surprise the Quakers.

This will also be Harvard's first game in Harvard Stadium.

"It's a great, historic venue, and our players love the new field surface," Nelson said.

The Quakers will be counting on freshman sensation Ali Deluca, who like senior Chrissy Muller had a five-point game against Penn State with three goals and two assists.

"[Deluca] goes hard to the goal and is a tough kid to stop," Brower said. "She can go left and right and she's very agile."

With so much success early in the season, however, the Red and Blue aren't worried about becoming overconfident.

"I don't think we've ever become complacent this season with any of the wins we've had," Muller said. "I think every win we've had has been a huge win for us, from Cornell to Yale and Hopkins. I don't think we'll ever be complacent because we have such a difficult schedule. We walk into every game knowing how good we are and wanting to prove ourselves."

A win over Harvard won't help too much, but a loss would be a big setback.

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