Sandwiched between two of its biggest games of the season, the Penn women’s field hockey team takes a break from its Ivy League slate on Wednesday to take on Philadelphia rival Villanova at Ellen Vagelos Field.

The Quakers’ next three games will be important to deciding whether they can take home a second consecutive Ivy title as the Red and Blue have a long way to go before reaching the ultimate goal of four outright titles in five years.

After Bagtas told the DP that the coaching staff said he would “run the team” this year, many were skeptical. But after seeing him on the court, there may be some merit to the idea.

With two weeks remaining in the preseason before kicking off the 2013-14 campaign on Nov. 9, the Quakers had their first intersquad scrimmage of the year on Saturday, which ended in a tie.

On Saturday night, the Quakers came from behind twice to beat the visiting Yale Bulldogs, 3-2, in overtime.

Twelve yards separated senior Kerry Scalora from Yale goalkeeper Elise Wilcox. And with the game and Penn’s Ivy hopes on the line, there was no one the Quakers would rather have taking a penalty kick.

It wasn’t pretty at first, and it certainly wasn’t pretty at the end, but for 40 minutes, Penn looked like it had the best football team in the Ivy League.

After a full regulation and two overtimes of scoreless play, senior Julie Tahan scored the deciding goal on Penn’s final shootout opportunity to give the Quakers a 1-0 win over Yale (6-8, 2-3 Ivy), and keep Ivy League hopes alive for the Red and Blue (11-3, 4-1).

With starting quarterback Billy Ragone out, Penn turned to fellow fifth-year senior Ryan Becker at QB and didn’t miss a beat, beating Yale, 28-17, to avenge the Quakers’ only loss in Ivy play from last season.

The Quakers were able take apart an undermanned Princeton squad on senior night and obliterate the Tigers, 72-29, to win the Ivy League title in their seniors’ final game at Franklin Field.

In a rematch against Princeton, who won the previous matchup in five sets, the Quakers pulled out a straight set victory.

While the Elis (6-7, 2-2 Ivy) have been in the middle of the pack, Penn (10-3, 3-1) has already surpassed its win total from last season.

Penn, Yale and Princeton are tied for first after each accumulating two wins and one tie.

On Saturday night at Rhodes Field, the Quakers (10-1-3, 3-1 Ivy), will look to show off their dominant defense against the Yale Bulldogs (7-5, 2-2). Penn enters play in sole possession of second place in the Ivy League, one game behind first-place Harvard.

This weekend, the Quakers will participate in not one, but two regattas. The Head of Schuylkill regatta will take place on Saturday and then the team will head to New Jersey for the Princeton Chase on Sunday.

When the Penn volleyball team takes on conference rival Princeton, it won’t just be playing for the Red and Blue — they’ll be playing for pink.

After a fantastic performance against Columbia, Penn’s defense will need to be on its toes this week, as Yale’s up-tempo option offense will call for the front seven to stick with their respective assignments.