CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - North Carolina, like any No. 1 team worth its weight in hype, has a bevy of offensive weapons it can use on any given night. But in its season-opening 86-71 win over Penn at the Dean Smith Center, the Tar Heels weren't going to take a chance of faltering in their season opener.

The Penn women's swimming team needed to claim the top two spots in the 200-yard freestyle relay in order to beat Columbia. Immediately after the start of the 16th and final event, Penn coach Mike Schnur began shouting: "That's an illegal start! That's an illegal start!" The Quakers finished second and third in the relay, losing the meet, 159-141.

Senior Leah Brogan has never qualified for the NCAA Cross Country Championship. But after her 18th-place finish (out of 191 runners) at Saturday's Mid-Atlantic Regional, she may well be on her way. Now, it's up to the NCAA committee to decide. "She ran a great race," coach Gwen Harris said.

If Saturday's tournament at the 29th-annual Temple Fencing Collegiate Open serves as any indication of what the women's fencing team can expect from their freshmen this season, the Quakers do not need to worry. Penn brought home six medals, including three earned by freshmen, in a tournament that featured athletes from 32 different schools.

So this is how it ends for the Red and Blue, no strangers to heartbreak by any stretch, but filled with a season-long optimism that makes Saturday's loss - and ostensible elimination from title contention - that much harder to swallow. Kicking blunders, gut-wrenching turnovers, potentially blown calls - the Quakers have been there before in recent years, sure.

Penn coach Al Bagnoli said that sophomore quarterback Keiffer Garton ran the two-minute drill perfectly. There was only one blemish - - and it couldn't have been more costly. After leading the Quakers 63 yards to the Harvard 12, Garton found himself trailing by three and well within field-goal range.

Since Ivy League student-athletes are not given scholarships, the women's rowing team's edging out of Duke, Iowa and Miami at the Rivanna Romp in Charlottesville, Va., was that much sweeter for coach Michael Lane. Penn was the only non-scholarship school in the race.

This was not what Pat Knapp envisioned. Fresh off a disappointing season and the departure of three forwards, the women's basketball coach opted for a four-guard starting lineup. But in Friday's season opener against Lehigh, two of those four combined for zero points.

By ZACH KLITZMAN Staff Writer klitzman@dailypennsylvanian.com Entering the 2007-08 season, Darren Smith had high hopes. The guard was just coming off an excellent rookie campaign in which he started 10 of the team's final 11 games, including the Quakers' first round NCAA tournament loss against Texas A&M;.

Lucas Tasigianis' goal was golden indeed. In the fifth minute of overtime, the sophomore midfielder put one past Harvard's keeper on a breakaway, earning Penn a 1-0 win and a trip to the NCAA tournament. The Quakers (11-2-4, 5-1-1 Ivy) will share the Ivy crown with Dartmouth, but the Penn's 1-0 win over the Big Green on Oct.

After a spotty first 40 minutes, the Quakers' offense finally found its rhythm. A second-half comeback seemed in order. And then, like in so many Penn games of the past few years, it all came crashing down with a failed red-zone conversion and botched field goal.

For the the men's soccer team, it's pretty simple. Beat Harvard, and take home Penn's second Ivy League Championship in 28 years. Lose or tie, and start praying for an at-large bid. When the Quakers face off tomorrow night against the Crimson (11-4-0, 5-1-0 Ivy) - who lead the Quakers (10-2-4, 4-1-1) by only two points - the Ivy trophy will be on the line.

Cornell may be the unanimous choice to defend its Ivy League hoops title, but the rest of the conference isn't holding up the white flag just yet - especially with star Big Red guard Adam Gore out with a torn anterior cruciate ligament (his second such injury in three years).

In their three seasons suiting up for the Red and Blue, Carrie Biemer and the three other seniors on the Penn basketball team have gone undefeated. In season openers, that is. "We have a good record going into first games," the senior forward said. "We'll come out with a lot of energy, and we'll see if we can go 4-0.

For freshman point guard Zack Rosen, sometimes it pays to look old beyond his years. And it has nothing to do with getting into Smokes'. "He's well ahead of his age and his class, as far as his execution on the floor," Penn coach Glen Miller said. In truth, leadership - not a good jumpshot or a soft touch at the foul line - may be Rosen's quickest way to extended playing time.

The Palestra - the hallowed "Cathedral of College Basketball" - has played host to more NCAA tournament games than any other arena. Yet no Ivy League school has haunted Division I basketball's own holy ground, the NCAA Final Four, since the Quakers' Dream Team of 1979, the second-round David to North Carolina's No.

After a disappointing home loss to Princeton to open their final Ivy League season, volleyball senior co-captains Kathryn Turner and Steph Gwin decided to take a more active leadership approach. Becoming more vocal and demanding in practice didn't produce immediate results, as the team went on to drop two of its next three matches.