Becca Edwards notched a hat trick against North Carolina last weekend, but that's not why she's been the center of attention among her lacrosse teammates.
When she joined the Quakers, the attacker had never experienced jetlag. The native of Flourtown, Pa. - about 30 minutes due north of Philadelphia - had traveled locally, but never out of Eastern Standard Time.
She was part of Penn's spring break trip to Northwestern last season. This time, it's all the way west, to northern California.
"Last year, it was, 'Oh, you've never been out of the timezone before?' 'No?'" she said with a sheepish smile. "I was so excited to change my watch.
The Red and Blue (1-1) will face No. 20 Stanford and California-Berkeley during their six day trip the gold coast.
The Cardinal are in the midst of midseason turmoil. Two starters - one midfielder and one defender - are out for the season, and a couple of other starters are banged up.
But, more importantly, coach Michelle Uhlfelder stepped down last week, effective immediately, "to pursue other career options," according to the official press release.
Adam Norton, an assistant promoted to co-interim head coach, would not comment on the reason for Uhlfelder's departure.
"Any time a member of the staff leaves a program mid season, it's a disruption," Uhlfelder said.
But the players have "regained their focus," he added, since the Feb. 25 announcement.
Indeed, since her departure, Stanford is 2-0, with victories over No. 10 Notre Dame and Boston College.
The Cardinal have averaged 11 goals on 29 shots in their six games, and Penn coach Karin Brower said that "they have the speed and the good stick skills and they're patient."
They have also excelled at draw controls, winning 61 of 110 attempts. That was Penn's strength last season, but this year it's just 16-for-30. Penn draw control specialist Allison Ambrozy was injured in the fall, but she received minimal playing time against UNC and is expected to log more minutes in the Golden State.
But it was Stanford's goalie about whom Brower was most concerned. Senior Laura Shane, an All-American, has played every minute of every game, making 87 saves while allowing 67 goals.
The Cardinal, meanwhile, were most concerned about Penn goalie Sarah Waxman, and the Quakers directly in front of her.
"Their defense is stifling, and they do not give opposing teams good looks at the cage," Adams said. "We have to outshoot Penn - smartly outshoot Penn."
The Cardinal fell to archrival - and fellow Penn opponent - Cal, 11-9, two weeks ago, although Brower warned against reading too much into one game.
Instead, Brower and her staff will be reading plenty on how to stop Cal's Dani Zuralow, who has 10 goals and 12 points in three games. Nobody else on the Golden Bears has more than six points.
Brower said that she will match one of her top defenders up against Zuralow.
Win or lose, though, Brower knows that the Quakers' first cross-country flight in a decade will be a speical experiene for her players.
"It's something different," she said. "They're really excited to go."
