Roundtable: Which fall team will be the best this season?

We've already covered football's pursuit of a 4th Ivy League title in five years. Which of the other fall sports teams at Penn will have the best season this year? Our editors weigh in.

Sports Editor John Phillips: I'm leaning towards women's soccer. The one worry coming out of the gate was that the team wouldn't be able to find the back of the net as often as they did to start off. Penn scored eight goals in two games last weekend to start the season 2-0. Now, they won't score nearly as much as that, but even if they can score half as often, with two goals a game on average, this team will win a good amount of its games.

Last year the Red and Blue let themselves and their fans down by coming out flat against Princeton, but the team learned from that hardship. Defense has never been the problem for Ambrose's squad and it will be tight for the Quakers going forward. It's all about the offense, and if last weekend was any indication at all, Penn will be able to score.

Sports Editor Steven Tydings: I'm going to surprise you, but last year's least successful fall sport might be one of Penn's best this year. By that, I mean that men's soccer is going to be a force to be reckoned with in 2013.

Yes, they are coming off a 3-13 campaign in 2012 while also losing last year's captain in Travis Cantrell and goaltender in Max Kurtzman. But it is an easier turnaround than you might think. Last year, the team obviously struggled, yet they also dealt with some terrible luck as nine of the Quakers' 13 losses came by just one goal. And in just two games this year, the Red and Blue showed some defensive tenacity and shut out their opponents. The competition was certainly not up to par with some of the tougher matches they will play in the coming weeks but by winning those two games, they are already looking better than last year.

With a strong returning nucleus of Stephen Baker, Duke Lacroix and Jonny Dolezal, the Quakers aren't going to be the Ivy League's punching bag this year. With the addition of freshman Alec Neumann to pair with a more experienced squad, Penn men's soccer is going to be turning some heads by year end.

Senior Sports Editor Mike Tony: No program has more momentum right now than Penn field hockey. The new AstroTurf Vagelos Field comes to mind, of course, but so does a performance at Lehigh Friday in which the Quakers outshot the Mountain Hawks, 24-12. Senior attack Julie Tahan and junior midfield Alex Iqbal fired five shots each in that game, and I trust the Quakers' aggressive offensive mindset to pay dividends down the stretch in Ivy play.