Don't expect any fireworks tomorrow at Rhodes Field.
Penn (9-2-2, 3-1 Ivy) and Brown (9-4-1, 3-1) have combined for 16 shutouts this season - eight apiece - and are about as evenly matched as possible.
In recent years, however, the Quakers have been dismal against their foe from Providence, R.I., going 0-4-1 over the past five seasons without scoring a goal.
But that's in the past. The Red and Blue have 27 goals this year to the Bears' 18 and return home for the first time in three weeks, riding back-to-back road wins over Dartmouth and Yale.
With one point awarded for a draw and three for a win, tomorrow's game will help decide who has a chance to overtake Harvard for top spot in the Ancient Eight. Both teams have nine points, tied for second in the league.
"Whenever you're tied with someone it's like a six-pointer instead of three because of the swing," senior Drew Healy said. "There are bigger implications to the game, especially with three games left."
Penn won't have to defend against a stalwart offense - the Bears' leading scorer has only four goals - but its concern is subtler.
"They're a really good restart team," Healy said. "That's where they get the majority of their goals from."
Brown senior Rhett Bernstein leads his club in scoring with 10 points (four goals, two assists). That he is a defender is indicative of a team whose offense is built on free-kicks, corners and throw-ins.
At 6-foot-1, 180 pounds, the two-time first-team All-Ivy back may be one of the few players in the conference who can cause trouble for Penn's tallest pillars on the back line, Jake Levin and Ryan Porch.
"[Bernstein] is an exceptional player in the air," Penn coach Rudy Fuller added.
Like Penn, Brown made its way into the national rankings earlier in the season but stumbled in mid-October. The Bears enter Saturday's match losing two of their last three contests.
Neither recent results nor paltry scoring are affecting Fuller's preparation.
"Brown's one of the best teams in the country right now," he said. "They play a good schedule and you're not going to score 50 goals against the teams they've been playing.
"They've proven time and time again that they get the goals when they need them."
The Quakers will need to fight defense with defense and try to sneak in a score.
"Personally, it's about being relentless," said senior forward Omid Shokoufandeh, reigning Ivy Player of the Week and the Quakers' leading scorer. "I think we are one of the best teams in the nation."
