W. Soccer Notebook | Ambrose keeps bench warm

You probably haven't heard of Megan Cassidy or Kelly McCarthy. Then again, you probably haven't heard of many players on the women's soccer team.

That's because coach Darren Ambrose carries 29 players on his roster, even though only 11 can be on the field at once. The rest of the Ivy League averages just over 25 players per squad and only Brown - with 30 players - has a larger one.

Ambrose said that the large roster is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, the Quakers have sustained as many as six injuries at a time, so the depth allows them to still practice with 11-on-11 scrimmages.

However, Ivy League rules limit Penn to traveling with only 20 players, which means nine players must be left behind when the team goes on road trips.

"That's something that can cause problems, kids that want to play that get disgruntled, and you can't keep everybody happy all the time," Ambrose said.

Despite the large roster, it hasn't been easy for Penn to replace the production of Jess Fuccello, Jess Rothenheber, and Mara Fintzi - the team's three leading points scorers in 2007.

"You could have 45 on your roster, but if the players that get injured are players that are your impact players and are All-Ivy caliber players, we don't have 45 of those players," Ambrose said.

Friedman's assistance. With all of the absences, several Quakers have stepped up to fill the void, no one more notable than sophomore Sarah Friedman.

Friedman leads the team with 22 points, and her 14 assists have already shattered Katy Cross's previous Penn single-season record of 10.

"She's one of the better distributors of the ball I've seen in the league," Ambrose said. "When she's given a little bit of time, she can pick apart a lot of teams."

Friedman is particularly strong serving in balls on set pieces, and her teammates have been effective at finishing her corners and free kicks.

With two years remaining in her career, Friedman may be the biggest threat to break her own record in the near future.

"She needs to make some adjustments for next year that we'll talk about in the offseason because teams will approach her a little differently," Ambrose said. "So she has got to add other dimensions to her game, and she's going to grow. If she does, there's no reason she couldn't add to that [record]."

Target Practice. Penn knew coming into the season that it would have a target on its back as the defending Ivy League champion, but it's been challenging nonetheless.

Opponents - rather than playing exclusively to their own strengths, as college teams usually do - instead started game-planning specifically to exacerbate Penn's weaknesses.

"They've just changed their way of thinking and the way they do things, not because they were intimidated, but out of respect," Ambrose said. "That's part of growing as a program, learning how to cope with that."

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