Coming off a disappointing road loss and facing its most pivotal match of the year, one thing is clear to the Penn women's soccer team: There's no place like home.
The Quakers (11-3-1, 4-1 Ivy) hope to feed off of the Rhodes Field crowd Saturday night with Princeton (8-6-1, 4-1) coming to town. With only two games remaining on each school's Ivy slate, the teams share identical 4-1 records in the Ancient Eight.
"Home-field advantage in the Ivy League is big," coach Darren Ambrose said. "We've played well at home all year, and we expect to do the same."
Now that Sunday's heartbreaking, double-overtime loss at Brown exists only in the rearview mirror, Penn looks to rediscover the inspired play that led to its first 4-0 conference start in program history.
"It feels like it's kind of coming towards a climax point," sophomore Mara Fintzi said. "I think everybody sees it as an opportunity to make everything you worked so hard for really count."
"They know what they're playing for," Ambrose said. "They know no one's gonna come here and give us anything."
In addition to finding their form on attack, the Quakers will have to neutralize Tigers senior midfielder Diana Matheson, who, after missing her team's first seven matches, has averaged a goal per game since her debut.
Matheson leads the Ivy League with a 2.43 points per game average, and trails only Penn's Jessica Fuccello in total goals scored.
Recent history isn't on the Quakers' side, either. The Red and Blue come into this matchup having lost to the Tigers in three straight seasons. Still, they insist that their game plan won't change heading into Saturday's showdown.
"We're pretty much going into this game [planning on] playing our type of game," captain Natalie Capuano said. "We're not gonna make a lot of adjustments. We know what we have to do."
Because the Quakers have such a young team this year - no seniors and 14 underclassmen on its roster of 21 - nerves might also play a role as the team prepares for such a crucial contest. Still, the players, for their part, seem unconcerned.
"It's normal for people to feel nervous. I think everybody does," Capuano said. "I think once we get out on the field and start warming up, it just kind of goes away, and people get excited."
With the team looking to gain the inside track on only its second-ever Ivy title, it shouldn't be too difficult to get excited about this one.
