A day punctuated by dismal offense on both sides ended with Lafayette hitting its stride at the worst possible time, handing the Quakers an 8-7 loss in their season opener.

And after a disappointing 0-4 start to the season, a little bit of traction early in the Ivy slate was just what the Quakers were looking for.

The Penn volleyball team went to Washington D.C. and got what it came for - its first win. The Quakers (3-4) beat Lafayette 3-0 on Friday at the American University Tournament but didn't stop there. They went on to sweep both Army and Navy before falling to American in five games in the finals to take second place in the tournament.

The Penn women's soccer team was going for a first this weekend by handing Northwestern its first loss at its brand new stadium, Lakeside Field. But the Quakers would have to settle for a draw. Penn and Northwestern played to a 1-1 tie on Friday night, but the Quakers made sure not to leave the Windy City without a victory as they blew away Loyola-Chicago yesterday, 5-1.

Al Bagnoli and Frank Tavani apparently had different professors for Football 101. They've both certainly been around long enough to form their own viewpoints on the game, but the guys at the helms of the Penn and Lafayette squads certainly have curiously divergent opinions on what constitutes a "pretty" football game.

First-year offensive coordinator Bill Schmitz probably had other thoughts about how the debut of his offense would unfold Saturday. Instead, the loss of its main playmaker proved the kiss of death for his unit, and the Quakers paid the price in the loss column.

Anthony Melillo looked like he had a screw loose. On fourth-and-long and the ball on the one-yard line, Penn was clinging to a 7-3 lead over Lafayette, and Melillo, the trusty veteran punter, was going to have to finesse his way out of a tough situation. But after taking the snap almost underneath the goalposts, he half-faked a punt, danced around the end zone for a few seconds and ducked out of bounds, even though he would have been in no danger of having his kick blocked.

Even though Penn dominated almost all of the 200 minutes it played to win its fourth consecutive Penn Soccer Classic title, it came away disappointed. Playing Hartwick on Friday night under the lights in its home opener, the Quakers came away with an impressive 2-1 victory.

With the season opener fast approaching, there's quite a bit on the minds of Penn football fans. Who will kick? Will the new offense produce? Is Coach Lake still alive? Well now, it's time to address the questions and let the betting begin. Straight from Las Vegas, here is the official 2007 Penn Football bettors' guide.

The road is often unkind to lost travelers. A three-game road trip to begin the season left the men's soccer team winless, with its early-season questions in goal and on the back line still unanswered. This weekend, however, Penn (0-3-0) looks to get its season back on track with a homestand - against Hartwick (3-1-0) tonight and La Salle (1-2-0) on Sunday as part of the Penn Soccer Classic.

Robert Irvin is glad he now has passing plays in his head, rather than butterflies in his stomach. The junior is not the same quarterback he was as a rookie last season, and will get his first chance to prove that at Franklin Field against No. 25 Lafayette tomorrow.

Penn volleyball coach Kerry Carr has a prime scouting opportunity this weekend. When she takes her team to the American Volleyball Tournament in D.C., four Ivy League teams will be on display. It's a Patriot-Ivy League showdown as Penn, Columbia, Cornell and Harvard will face off against Army, Navy, American and Lafayette.

When deciding on the best strategy for Penn's new-look offense this season, Quakers coach Al Bagnoli took a cue from the past. "We're probably going off closer to what we were with [former offensive coordinator] Andy [Coen] with motion, shifting, people out of the backfield," Bagnoli said of the offense, mentioning there would be an emphasis on "a much more open, no-huddle, up-tempo" style this year.

It was all over. Harvard players rejoiced, as they had grown accustomed to doing, on the field and along the sidelines. Penn players lay spent, left to ponder what might have been - a feeling that they knew all too well. This 1982 Penn football team had gone the way of the 22 others before it: out of the money, without ring, cup, or banner.

As the Cornell field hockey team visits Penn tomorrow, the squads find themselves facing two very different scenarios. The Big Red (3-0, 1-0 Ivy) are tied for first among the Ivies and remain the only Ancient Eight team undefeated overall. Meanwhile, the Quakers (1-4, 0-1) are tied for last, and only have a better overall record than one other Ivy team, Yale, at 0-2.

To the most casual Penn football fans, Kelms Amoo-Achampong is nothing more than the hyphenated mouthful that sits atop the Quakers' roster. To those who follow the team a bit more closely, he is the more-than-competent backup to first-team All-Ivy running back Joe Sandberg.

The Northwestern women's soccer team already had history made this season. In its game against Florida Atlantic on Sunday, senior forward Kelsey Hans scored her 30th career goal, putting her atop the school's all-time list. But Penn (3-1) will try to make some history of its own by handing the Wildcats (5-1) their first-ever loss at Lakeside Field tonight.