In its first four games of the season, the men's soccer team has looked impressive, going 3-0-1 without allowing a single goal. Up to this point, however, Penn has done it all away from home, winning tournaments at Marquette and then at Princeton. That changes this weekend, when the Quakers host Buffalo tonight and Mercer on Sunday afternoon as part of the seventh annual Penn Soccer Classic.

In the interest of team chemistry, many athletes take great pains to keep from airing their dirty laundry in the locker room. For the Penn football team, the formula is far simpler: Just give it to Jordan Manning. The Quakers senior enters his third season as starting strong safety - and his second as assistant to the squad's althletic equipment administrator, a work-study position that leaves him in charge of the post-practice laundry load for the Red and Blue.

Reeling from four straight losses, Penn coach Kerry Carr has devised a master plan. "We're going to work on winning," she said. The Quakers will face La Salle, Bucknell and Villanova at the Villanova classic today and tomorrow, before returning to the Palestra to take on Seton Hall on Sunday.

Penn senior Natalie Capuano leads the women's soccer team with an impressive three goals in four matches on the young season. But even more impressive is a Georgetown defense that has allowed a total of two goals in six games - which makes Capuano's individual scoring average more than double that of the Hoyas' opponents.

Not again. The Penn football team began its 2008 season the way it has endured the last few -- with another overtime loss, this time 20-14 to Villanova, that tugged at heartstrings and will test the mettle of a young team. Penn had taken a 14-7 lead on a Mike DiMaggio run and was even with the No.

In February, athletic director Steve Bilsky became the first prominent Ivy League official to speak out against financial-aid competition among the conference schools, which he believes could give some a serious leg up on recruiting and relegate others - the poorer ones, to be blunt - to a second tier.

Last year, Harvard's football team lost just two games - one on a 40-yard pass with 19 seconds remaining to Holy Cross, the other on a fumble return for a touchdown with 30 seconds left against Lehigh. In the Ivy League, the Crimson rolled to six straight victories, setting the stage for an epic matchup with 9-0 and 11th-ranked Yale to determine the 2007 Ancient Eight champion.

On the first possession of its second game of 2007, Brown lost tailback Dereck Knight to a foot injury. He had run for 208 yards on Opening Day, but that misstep put Knight out of commission for the rest of the year. With him went any semblance of a running game.

For Jonathan Boym, the USTA Intercollegiate Competition this weekend is the beginning of his swan song, a final chance to wash away the bitter taste of his junior year campaign. Boym, along with the now-graduated Jason Pinsky, co-captained the Quakers to a 12-11 mark in their 2007-08 season.

Just two years ago, Princeton was the team to beat in the Ivy League. But while four starters from that 2006 Ivy League Championship team are still around to guide the Tigers' 2008 campaign, Princeton will need stronger defensive play to regain elite status in the Ancient Eight.

He is a leader on Villanova's defense and one of the team's best all-around athletes, but Salim Koroma is no stranger to being overshadowed. The Wildcats' senior cornerback is only the second-best defensive back to ever play in his family - his uncle Gibril Wilson is now the Oakland Raiders' starting free safety and the owner of a New York Giants' Super Bowl ring.

Right now, Penn isn't the only Ivy League team that has more questions than answers at quarterback. Yale does, too. But the Bulldogs, who last year were the league champions right up until they weren't, won't have much experience under center no matter who gets the nod.

This isn't your big brother's Dartmouth. No, the Big Green, often written off as the bottom-feeders of the Ivy League, no longer serve only as a practice squad for the rest of the conference. They may not be title contenders, but their opponents can no longer look to trips to Hanover as guaranteed wins.

While the rest of the Penn field hockey team was finishing up against Lafayette last night, midfielder Sarah Warner was in a hospital, getting stitches after picking up a knock earlier in the game. Adding insult to injury, Penn was beaten on the scoreboard, 2-0, extending its losing streak to five.

Cornell football will have a new look this year - literally. Coach Jim Knowles removed the "C" from the players' helmets in an effort to improve their effort and dedication. He needed to do something after the Big Red finished seventh in the Ivy League last year with a 2-5 record and were physically dominated by most teams.

Before his first season at Columbia began in 2006, coach Norries Wilson offered a bold prediction in an interview with Columbia College Today. "We will not win the Ivy League championship," he said. "I'm guaranteeing that." The words proved prescient, as the Lions stumbled to a 2-5 conference mark.