Role reversal

When the women's lacrosse team traveled to Baltimore last year to take on Johns Hopkins, the then-No. 14 Quakers upset the No. 12 Blue Jays 12-4, giving Penn its first-ever win over its Maryland rival.

But this year, the tables have turned. The No. 8 Quakers (7-1) are now the higher-ranked team and look to avoid a revenge upset by the No. 15 Blue Jays (5-4). This is the first time Penn has ever been ranked higher than Hopkins in the six times they've played.

Despite the changing circumstances - this is Hopkins' worst start since 2002 - the Quakers are still pumped up for this game.

"We respect all of our opponents," senior captain Rachel Manson said. "This is a new season, but we're just as fired up to face [Hopkins] as we were last year. They're always a good team, but we're confident we can beat them."

Penn coach Karin Brower added, "They're a good team. We want to go out there and prove how good we are."

Before last year, the Quakers had never beaten the Blue Jays since the squads began playing seven years ago. This will mark the fourth consecutive season the two have faced each other while ranked.

"For the team, they rise to the occasion [against] the competitive teams," Brower said. "This is a big regional team for us. We need to come prepared to play a solid 60 minutes."

This year, the Blue Jays will be without Mary Key, who finished second in the nation in points per game with 67 goals and 54 assists. (The Quakers held her to just a goal and two assists.)

But with her graduation, the Red and Blue must focus on the whole Hopkins attack.

"Clearly [Key] was someone that you had to stop," Brower said. "This year they have a more well-rounded attack, so they're a little more balanced. They don't have a marquee player. In some ways that's harder since you don't have to worry about [just] one."

This balance can be seen on the stat sheet, where Sam Schrum, Brett Bathras and Kirby Houck lead the team with 21, 21 and 20 points, respectively.

Penn only has two players over 20 points - Manson and fellow senior attacker Melissa Lehman.

This week the Quakers will be riding plenty of momentum, as they manhandled Columbia 13-2 on Saturday. Every player saw action against the Lions. In fact, both Columbia goals were against the back up goalkeeper Emily Szelest.

"We're coming off a strong week of practice," Manson said. "Everyone is mentally there right now. . We're doing well, and everyone is really psyched. So we have to keep that energy."

Also of note, Blue Jays sophomore defender Lizzie Rupp went to St. Stephen's and St. Agnes in Alexandria, Va. - the same lacrosse powerhouse Manson attended.

"I actually feel really lucky since I know a lot of girls on a lot of teams," Manson said. "It's exciting, [but] it's just another competitor. It doesn't really matter where she went to high school."

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