Howe Cup | Howe far can W. Squash go this year?

Vengeance will be on the minds of the women's squash players when they step on the court this weekend.

The nation's top college squash teams will convene in Cambridge, Mass., today through Sunday for the 2009 Howe Cup. It's also the Quakers' one last shot at redemption.

In 2008, the Quakers entered the championship event ranked No. 1 yet fell in the finals. This year they don't have the same clout. Due to disappointing late-season losses to Princeton and Harvard, the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, respectively, the Red and Blue enter the weekend as the No. 3 seed, with a 9-2 overall and 4-2 Ivy record.

But don't underestimate the "underdog."

"We'd much rather be in the position we are right now," senior Tara Chawla said. "There's no expectations, no target on our backs. We're going in with nothing to lose. "

Penn is one of eight A-pool teams, and this year the competition is closer than ever before.

"It's never been stronger all the way from the top team to the bottom team," Penn coach Jack Wyant said.

"For us, there is not too much of a focus on rankings," senior captain Emily Goodwin added. "The past couple matches didn't go our way, but that just fuels the fire in us. It makes us want to win even more and come back even stronger and show people that we can do it."

Penn's first match is today at 9:30 a.m. against fellow Ivy foe Cornell (9-4, 2-4). Penn defeated the Big Red, 7-2, in their first match of the season, but not without a fight. There were a few four- and five-game matches at the meeting nearly three months ago.

"They're really solid," Wyant said. "I think we may have a bit more talent, but they've gotten better over the years. We need to take them very seriously."

If Penn wins it will play the winner of No. 7 Stanford and Harvard. Penn beat Stanford, 7-2, in November but fell to the Crimson last weekend, 5-4, at home. However, a rematch with Harvard will give the women a chance to even the score and "return the favor," Wyant said.

"It's not like we got blown out of the water [by Harvard]," Chawla said. "We can almost taste [a win against them], and we're working hard to prepare for the weekend. It's tough to lose, but it gave us all a little incentive."

Penn is familiar with revenge at the Howe Cup. After beating Princeton last year to clinch the regular season Ivy League crown, it fell victim to the Tigers' revenge, 6-3, in the finals.

But now they hope for the chance to see the other side of the story against Harvard this year. Wyant feels his team is motivated and prepared to play, regardless of how the regular season panned out.

"We've had some great matches this year, winning 5-4 against Yale and Trinity, which are really good teams," Wyant claimed. "We just need to carry that through and return to that form and leave the closet bare."

The No. 5 Bulldogs and No. 4 Bantams will face off in one quarterfinal. That game's winner will face the victor of Princeton and No. 8 Williams.

Despite Penn's No. 3 seed, the team's morale is certainly still high. Now, it must use its built-up energy on the court and hold nothing back.

"We're going to go out this time a little more aggressively and playing more to win," Chawla said. "[Against Harvard] we were a little tentative and playing not to lose as opposed to win, and that's something we're going to try and switch up."

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