Twenty years ago, the Penn field hockey team won the Ivy League and defeated Penn State in an overtime thriller in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
On senior day this Sunday at Franklin Field, the Quakers will remember that squad with a pregame ceremony before hosting Brown at 1 p.m.
For the Bears, the numbers aren't pretty. Winless in conference play, Brown (4-11, 0-5 Ivy) ranks last in the Ivy League in shots, penalty corners, assists, goals for and goals against.
But the Quakers still spent this week stressing that the Bears aren't quite as bad as they seem.
"Their record may not show it, but they are a pretty decent team," senior midfielder Rachel Eng said.
They're certainly better than last year, when they dropped their first 16 games (while being outscored, 51-12) before pulling off a 3-0 upset over Yale in the season finale.
The Red and Blue plan to adapt to their opponent's style of play and exploit Brown's weaknesses early. Most notably, film the team watched during yesterday's practice revealed that Brown is not particularly quick, especially in its backfield.
"We are looking to pass around their players since a lot of them didn't look very fast," Eng said.
In their last three matches, the Quakers have been using a four-midfielder formation, which has allowed for a more offensive style of play. This has proved effective for the team - Penn won all three - and for its forwards, especially Eng. Of her team-high eight goals, five have come under the new system.
But head coach Val Cloud says that she's investing in the collective opportunities that the new line-up creates, not one person's performance.
Brown, too, added an addition midfielder to its lineup, centralizing its strongest players. The Bears' primary weapon is forward Abigail Taft, who in her freshman campaign has seven goals - good for one-third of her team's output and 10th in the Ancient Eight.
Penn's biggest problem, though, may be expectations. Its battle with first-place Princeton is looming around the corner, and the team has a tendency for misjudging opponents in the past.
"We have been down that road before, and I think we know we just can't do that," senior co-captain Margaretha Ehret said. "We all know that that is something we shouldn't let happen again."
