Rothenheber playing like it's '07

Before last season, Jess Rothenheber's skills were on full display whenever she stepped onto the field.

After coming in as a highly regarded recruit, the Chalfont, Pa., native "made an immediate impact" in 2006 as a freshman, according to coach Darren Ambrose. She earned second team All-Ivy honors both that year and in 2007, when she dished out nine assists and scored five goals as Penn won the Ivy championship.

"I don't think we would have won the league without her," Ambrose said.

But in last year's fall to fifth place, Rothenheber battled injuries throughout the season and didn't start until the finale at Princeton.

Having been through both the ups and the downs, she is focused on finishing her career strong as a crucial part of the Penn midfield.

"It's kind of a bittersweet moment," she said. "Basically I just come out every day with [my whole career] in mind. I'm just focusing on the big picture: winning."

With the team incorporating a four-person midfield instead of the triangle formation it has used in the past, Rothenheber may improve her already stellar offensive game.

"I like [the new formation] a lot," she said. "I think it's more effective [than the triangle] but it needs work, and that's what we're focusing on this season."

The transition will be easier with the return of senior Jessica Fuccello to the front of the formation. Rothenheber assisted six of Fuccello's Ivy-leading 11 goals in 2007.

"They're on the same page an awful lot," Ambrose said.

Fuccello is racking up the goals again this season, but Rothenheber remains just fine with being the team's unheralded playmaker.

At the same time, her brilliant work certainly doesn't go unnoticed by her coach, who described her as a "very creative, very savvy player."

She's "one of the most gifted players with the ball at her feet that I've ever seen," Ambrose said. "She does a lot of things that the untrained eye doesn't see.

"She's learned an incredible amount during her few years - which haven't been all smooth sailing," he added.

Though not a captain, Rothenheber has used her knowledge to assume the role of a senior leader after Penn lost seven players to graduation, including star midfielder Natalie Capuano.

In addition to racking up assists, she also has grown as a defender. And that pleases Ambrose.

She provides "a good example of someone who's improved a weakness by taking responsibility," he said.

Now that both Rothenheber and Fuccello are back on the field, Ambrose cannot help but be excited about this season's prospects after a trying '08 run. The pair shined in Sunday's 5-2 win over LaSalle, with Rothenheber assisting Fuccello's fourth goal of the game - a crossfield pass that led to a header.

Looks like 2007 all over again.

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