The Quakers will match up with Columbia on Friday in a battle between two teams currently tied for third place in the Ivy League.

The team’s results this season might be ever-changing, but its leadership has been steady and constant. No matter how the Quakers play, Mirkin has been there with words of encouragement and motivation. 

Penn now has a few days to reflect before it returns home to face Ivy foe Columbia at home on Friday.  

Several teams' performances have been quite surprising so far — both positively and negatively — so in this roundtable, our writers debate which team has been the biggest surprise.

In this week's edition of Is Stat So?, season-long trends, both positive and negative, continued, Penn football survived a furious comeback, and a field hockey player found success against a familiar opponent.

Alexa Schneck kept up her hot streak for Penn field hockey, finding the back of the goal twice and adding an assist in Saturday’s 3-2 overtime victory against Dartmouth. 

Penn’s double overtime 3-2 win in Hanover marked the Quaker’s fourth consecutive win against the Big Green, giving them a winning record in the Ivy League thus far. 

In this week's edition of Is Stat So?, defenses across the board had an impressive weekend, and football gave up touchdowns to an unlikely group of players.

Penn field hockey finished with a split result, losing a tight conference contest to No. 12 Harvard 2-1 on Saturday before rebounding with a comprehensive 3-0 victory against crosstown rival Temple.

No. 19 Penn will face an uphill battle against No. 8 Harvard, who crushed Yale, 6-0, in its Ivy opener this past weekend. The day after playing Harvard, the Quakers will look to get their fourth win in four years over Temple.

The Quakers were able to hold off Cornell in their Ivy opener on Saturday, winning 1-0. But the Red and Blue lost in a heartbreaking shootout against No. 12 Syracuse the next day, 2-1. 

In this week's edition of Is Stat So?, scoreless streaks were extended for Penn's two soccer teams, running backs kept the ball moving, and defenses came up strong.

As the final player standing between the goal and the ball, junior goalkeeper Ava Rosati plays one of Penn field hockey's most important positions.

Despite coming off of a 3-0 loss at No. 16 Iowa (7-1) just two days prior, the Quakers were able to come out with an energetic performance to beat their next-door neighbors, 2-1.

It’s a problem unique to college athletics: every year, teams lose starters due to graduation, and are forced to fill those spots. The result is teams often show different tactical identities each year.

In two of the past three seasons, Penn has seen the defending NCAA champion on its slate. In both 2017 and 2018, the team scheduled six foes that made the prior year’s NCAA Tournament. 

Penn field hockey will look to build some momentum going into league play with a pair of tough non-conference games this weekend against Iowa and Drexel.