Three up, three down: Penn women's lacrosse vs. Rutgers

Penn women’s lacrosse hosts Rutgers today in the 16th-ever meeting between the schools. No. 15 Penn (1-1) is hoping to revive its momentum coming off of a close loss to No. 1 North Carolina, but the Quakers lost their previous matchup with the Scarlet Knights (3-1), which snapped a three-game Red and Blue win streak in the series.

Three Up

Tory Bensen: After only two games in the 2014 season, Bensen has already racked up eight goals. The senior attack has twice as many tallies as the next-leading scorer for the Red and Blue, Lely DeSimone. Bensen has been a key player for the Quakers during her time at Penn, playing in every game her freshman year but suffering a season-ending injury in her sophomore season. Luckily for the Quakers, she came back strong to once again be an asset in the 2013 season, and Bensen will look to continue to be a force to be reckoned with.

Penn’s defense: In the Quakers’ match up against North Carolina last weekend, it was a strong defensive effort that kept the Red and Blue in the match. While the number of shots were even on both squads, the Tar Heels won 16 draws to Penn’s seven. Junior defense Meg Markham was responsible for three of North Carolina’s 14 turnovers, 10 of which were directly caused by Penn, a strong follow-up to Penn’s 13-turnovers forced effort against Delaware.

The lead: While the defense played strong for the Quakers last weekend, it was the offense that allowed Penn to lead over UNC on four different occasions. This was the first time that the Tar Heels have trailed in a game all season. Led by Bensen, the Red and Blue offense played well, even if in the end it was not quite enough to top the number one seed.

Three Down

History: Rutgers leads the all-time series against Penn, 10-5, a record that includes last year’s narrow 6-5 triumph. And last year the weather was nothing to brighten the day either. As one of the first games of the season for Penn, the Quakers were welcomed to New Brunswick with rain, snow and wind for the duration of the game.

Second half play: While Penn gave North Carolina a good fight, the Tar Heels enforced their will in the second half. If the Quakers hope to make up for last year’s loss to their New Jersey visitors, they will have to maintain their momentum after halftime as fatigue begins to wear in.

Draws: If there is a spot where Penn has shown weakness it has been in draw control. The Red and Blue have only won 18 in the course of the first two games of the season with seven coming from Markham. The Quakers’ opponents have won a combined 25. If Penn hopes to change its luck against Rutgers, it best work on winning those draws.