Penn women's soccer returning to basics

For Penn women’s soccer, this weekend — the halfway mark of Ivy League play for the Quakers — comes with no shortage of challenges.

To start, Dartmouth, their opponent, is a ferocious competitor.

In its three conference games, the Big Green (3-4-4, 0-0-3 Ivy) have played 60 extra minutes in overtime. Although Dartmouth has not yet tallied any conference wins this year, they hung with Princeton (5-3-3, 2-0-1) — arguably one of the Ancient Eight’s best teams — through all of regulation and two overtime periods, finishing in a draw.

Penn (5-4-2, 1-2), on the other hand, has not had to play more than 90 minutes since tying St. Francis, 1-1, on Sept. 11.

Unfortunately, the odds of battling through all of regulation are stacked against the Quakers, as just keeping their legs fresh for Saturday’s game after making the 360-mile trek up to Hanover will be a challenge for the team.

“It’s a long trip up there,” junior back Caroline Dwyer said. “That’s never easy to take an eight-hour trip.”

But the distance between Philadelphia and Hanover is not the only obstacle the team must overcome in order to escape the weekend with a win.

This weekend, it is imperative that Penn play cleanly for the entirety of regulation — and then some. Given that Dartmouth’s three conference games have all ended in ties this season, it is possible that the Quakers might need an overtime period — or two — to emerge victorious.

As of late, the team has struggled to make its execution on the field consistent from whistle to whistle.

“We’ve had some good moments in defending,” coach Darren Ambrose said. “We’ve had some pretty good moments in attack but we’ve yet to see both sides perform at the same time for 90 minutes.”

Most recently, the Quakers fell, 2-1, to Navy on Oct. 11 after a disappointing performance in the second half.

“The first 20 minutes I thought we were pretty good,” Ambrose said. “And then mistakes cost us.”

Come Saturday, the Red and Blue are hoping that those mistakes don’t follow them up to Hanover. Instead of laying out a detailed game plan, Ambrose is hoping his players can go back to basics and fulfill their roles on the field.

“If you’re a forward, hold the ball up. If you’re a midfield player, then complete passes. If you’re a defender, then tackle,” Ambrose said. “We’re still waiting for that game when we do all of those things together at one time.”

Essentially, Ambrose wants his players to focus on controlling the “controllables” in their upcoming match and not worry about how the Big Green are preparing for Saturday’s game.

“When we go into games, it is not so much about the other team,” Dwyer explained. “It is just what we need to do.”

The way Ambrose sees it, focusing on the other team can serve as somewhat of a distraction, because what the Red and Blue need to do right now is simple.

“We need to find our rhythm.”

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