One month after the end of basketball season, a timelss rivalry resumes.
The classic Penn motto, “Puck Frinceton,” says everything you need to know about Wednesday’s Ivy League women’s lacrosse matchup between the Quakers (7-4, 5-0 Ivy) and the Tigers (8-4, 5-0).
The stage is set. A 7 p.m. night game under the bright lights of historic Franklin Field will likely decide the outright winner of the Ancient Eight, with the Red and Blue squaring off with their hated New Jersey neighbors in a battle of the two remaining undefeated Ivies.
The Quakers are coming off their biggest win of the year, an 8-7 victory over Dartmouth. It was an enormous win for Penn, not only because it kept the Quakers undefeated, but also because the Big Green knocked off Penn in the Ivy League tournament last season.
Overall, the Quakers have won seven of their last eight, with their lone loss coming to the nation’s top-ranked team, Maryland. Though they’ve already clinched one of the four spots in the Ivy League tournament, a regular season championship for the Red and Blue would be huge.
But to do so, they’ll have to shut down Princeton’s attack, led by sophomore Erin McMunn, whose 52 total points (30 goals, 22 assists) are good for second in the Ivy League.
“Princeton’s a very strong team with a lot of threats,” coach Karin Brower Corbett said. “Stopping them and playing well as a unit will be key to our success.”
Friday’s game should be a good indicator that the Penn defense will be ready for the challenge. The Red and Blue held Dartmouth to just seven goals over the course of the game and stopped all three free position chances the Big Green had in the second half.
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But limiting fouls and Princeton’s free position chances will be key.
“We definitely need to play clean. We need to keep [Princeton] away from the crease,” Corbett added.
Goalie Lucy Ferguson came up huge for the Quakers on Friday, and will need another big game Wednesday if Penn wants to come out on top.
Her key? Preparation.
“We watch a lot of film and we’ve been successful at taking away other team’s top scoring threats,” she said.
But a strong defense without scoring means nothing.
“We’re also going to need to cause havoc and create a lot of opportunities for ourselves,” Corbett said.
The big question mark will be freshman Iris Williamson. The attack scored an enormous goal for the Quakers against Dartmouth to give them the lead late, but was noticeably hobbling after the game.
If she’s not 100 percent, the Quakers will look to their trio of seniors. Meredith Cain has a team-high 27 points, Caroline Bunting has two straight hat tricks and Maddie Poplawski is a reigning All-American.
The Quakers topped Princeton, 13-8, in New Jersey last year and the Red and Blue have not lost at home since March 2, their second game of the season.
It’s going to be a dogfight, but Penn believes it has what it takes to come out on top.
“Our coaches are going to have us prepared,” Ferguson said.
“Now we just need to go all out and get that win.”
SEE ALSO
Penn women’s lacrosse trumps Dartmouth, controls own Ivy destiny
Time for payback for Penn women’s lacrosse
Penn women’s lacrosse gets a hat trick of hat tricks
Free positions a key part of Quakers’ offense
Penn women’s lacrosse breaks out in second half to beat Lehigh
