Mid-Monday Mix: 5 days until football

The NFL kicked off this weekend and many college football programs already have two weeks of competition under their belts. But in the world-renowned (just not for its football) Ivy League, it all begins Saturday. As you might have seen, Penn's got a shot at history as they go for a third-consecutive undefeated season. If that doesn't get your blood flowing, perhaps some postgame fireworks at the grand-opening of Penn Park will. (Shameless promotion: Thursday's DP will feature a big spread on Penn Park. Pick one up!) (Shameless promotion #2: Friday's DP will feature our annual football supplement. Pick more than one up.)

Rundown: Have you heard of Penn women's soccer? They're kind of awesome.

The ladies have played four games and have put up four shutouts, with two this weekend. Friday night they beat Villanova at PPL Park, home to the Philadelphia Union. Then Sunday they beat St. Joe's, 2-0. Even more impressively, they've done it with two keepers splitting time in goal. The last time the program started a season this strong was 1998, when they went 6-0-1.
I've done enough cross-country flights to know that the trip east-bound is always shorter thanks to our friend the jet-stream. But the men's soccer team had a long red-eye home from San Diego after they dropped both matches this weekend and were held scoreless for the duration of the trip.
Penn volleyball also had a rough trip to Ohio, losing two five-setters, and a match to No. 25 Ohio State.
Field Hockey coach Colleen Fink says her team is moving in the right direction. They weren't shut out in either game this weeekend, an improvement over last. But they still haven't found a first win.

Weekend win: The performance of the weekend has got to go to w. soccer freshman Megan York, who scored her first collegiate goal, and Penn's only goal, to keep the Quakes perfect against 'Nova.

Multimedia: Have you seen our sport-by-sport photo galleries? We're compiling the DP's best pictures for each sport, and updating them as the season's go on. Check out W. Soccer, M. Soccer, Football, and Sprint Football's galleries.

Speaking of sprint football, they narrowly edged former Penn players, 21-19, in the annual alumni game. Good thing, since a loss against the old folks would have been embarrassing. Question: Do the alumni have to make weight?

Extra Extra: It was sunny in San Diego. So soccer freshman Agyeman Botchway kept his eyes shaded in style, with these sweet DP sunglasses:

(Via @PennAthletics)