If the Penn women's soccer team was hoping to test itself before Ivy play opens, it sure picked the right opponents.
A week removed from a two-game slate that saw the Quakers fall to Northwestern but defeat then-No. 25 Pittsburgh in overtime, the Red and Blue face a couple of new challenges this weekend in St. Joseph's and Georgetown.
Tonight the team will travel down City Line Avenue to take on the Hawks (2-3-1) at Finnesey Field for the first time ever. The Quakers (3-1-0) are wary that no matter what time of year, games against local teams are always tighter and more intense.
As senior captain Allyson Gordon put it, "I think that the inter-city rivalry games are just naturally tougher games because there's a natural competition between the teams based on playing in the same city."
St. Joe's enters the match fresh off a 2-0 loss to Towson last Friday. Led by sophomore Maggie Lupinski - who has scored five goals thus far this season, including a hat trick at St. Peter's - the Hawks have outshot opponents by an average of 13-10 in 2009.
But the squad is inexperienced at goalkeeper, rotating freshmen Christine Neal and Kat Kelble in net after losing promising 2008 starter Cara Critchlow to injury and transfer. Penn coach Darren Ambrose, though, thinks this will be a minor factor.
"[Goaltending is] something that's overplayed," he said. "You've got to get past ten other players before you get to the goalkeeper."
Either way, Ambrose's squad is in for a much tougher task Sunday when it hosts the Hoyas at Rhodes Field.
Heading into its Big East opener against Villanova today, Georgetown (6-1-0) has outscored opponents 23-2 this season. The impressive sophomore tandem of Ingrid Wells and Camille Trujillo has combined to record nine goals and nine assists in the team's seven games, while junior goalie and 2008 third team All-Big East selection Jackie DesJardin has posted four shutouts and saved 93 percent of the shots she's faced.
Like Pitt and Northwestern last weekend, the Hoyas will provide another litmus test for Penn at this point in the year.
"It's important that you get an idea of where you are and take stock in what your good at," Ambrose said.
Even so, the coach pays little attention to the opposition, opting to keep things simple and focus on his own team.
"The way we approach it, we just concentrate on ourselves," he said. "We respect every opponent that we play, but we always want to try to do what were good at."
The players can't help but embrace the challenge of the early season competition, but Gordon knows the most difficult matchups are yet to come.
"It's a big test, physically, mentally and emotionally," she said. But the Ivy League "is what we set out for every season so those games are the toughest. … Playing teams with very good soccer reputations prepares us for those games."
