Just when it was beginning to settle in, the women's lacrosse team is on the road again.
The Quakers travel to Ithaca, N.Y. tomorrow to play Cornell for their second Ivy road game of the season. No. 6 Penn has already played five of its six games away from home.
"It's been a long two weeks, and we have to finish it strong," coach Karin Brower said. "This is the most important game of the two weeks, being the last one and the second of the Ivies."
The Big Red (4-2, 1-0 Ivy) began the season 4-0 before falling to No. 17 Vanderbilt on Monday and New Hampshire on Wednesday. Before those games, they led the league in goals-against average. And even after allowing 25 goals in those two losses, their average is no longer at the top but still stands at an impressive 7.17.
The Penn attack seems to be kicking into gear just in time, putting up its highest output of the year, 14 goals, against Penn State on Wednesday.
The Quakers (5-1, 1-0) will have to go the rest of the season without junior attacker Becca Edwards, who had five points in three games before tearing her ACL against Stanford Mar. 9. Still, the team is confident in its ability to put the ball in the net.
"We just have to keep going hard and going through our motions and keep being dynamic," senior attacker Melissa Lehman said. "We just have to really stick to our game plan and keep running through our plays."
Penn's defense, anchored by senior goalkeeper Sarah Waxman, has been even more unkind to the opposition. Their Red and Blue's goals against average is 6.67, and they have allowed double-digit goals just once, in their loss at Stanford.
Their defenders will have their work cut out for them, though, as the Big Red boast one of the country's top offensive players in senior attacker Courtney Farrell. Her 67 points last season were good for 13th in the nation and her second All-Ivy selection. She has begun this year just as strong, with 26 points in 12 games.
Featuring the only two teams with an Ivy win under their belts, Saturday's contest will put the winner in the driver's seat early in the Ivy League season. And the Quakers know that while there is still plenty of lacrosse to be played, many teams would love to knock them off that pedestal early.
"Last year we were 7-0 so obviously every team is gunning for us," Lehman said. "Everyone's going to bring their A game. It's tough but we have to rise to the occasion."
Cornell may be particularly eager to take down the Quakers, after Penn beat the 2006 Ivy co-champions 14-9 last year at Franklin Field.
While the Quakers know the difficulty of Ivy League road matches, they still maintain the level of confidence that comes after a dream season and Final Four appearance.
"We're definitely going to beat them," Waxman said. "But it's going to be a good game."
