Penn football’s first game may come a full two weeks after most teams begin their seasons, but a high level of competition has been brewing for weeks in Quakers' practices at Penn Park. As the Red and Blue approach their opener against Lehigh, position battles have been on the minds of many coaches and players.

The streak goes on. After opening its season with a draw and two losses, Penn men's soccer looked to get on track in a midweek matchup with crosstown foe Drexel on Wednesday night.

When Penn women’s soccer assistant coach Emily Oliver stepped on the soccer field four years ago on December 4th, her objective was clear. It was the finals of 2011 College Cup, the NCAA women’s soccer national championship, and her team, the Stanford Cardinal, was facing Duke.

Over the past few years, Penn men’s cross country has largely been a showcase for one of the top runners in the nation: Thomas Awad. And what a showcase it has been.

The fall season may still be quite young for Penn Athletics, but that doesn’t mean there haven’t been any surprises. So now, with most Red and Blue teams having gotten their seasons under way, we take the opportunity to talk about the squads that have made us reconsider our preseason expectations.

The 139th edition of Penn football has 77 days together. From the first day of preseason camp until the final snap against Cornell in November, the Quakers remain one cohesive unit.

The first big road trip of the season is always a challenge, and while Penn women’s soccer’s weekend in South Carolina was by no means perfect, the two games the squad played allowed for plenty of causes for optimism. Despite picking up their first loss of the season on Friday night in a 2-1 game against No.

It was a rainy trip to Florida for Penn men’s soccer this weekend, both literally and figuratively. With a two-game slate scheduled in the Sunshine State, the Quakers dropped their opener in disappointing fashion to Florida International, 3-1, on Thursday night.

Off to the races they go. After a brief layoff following the end of track and field season, Penn's cross country teams are eagerly anticipating their season opener at the Big 5 Invitational this Friday.

The old saying goes, two’s company, three’s a crowd, four’s too many. But for coach Fuller and the Quakers, four might be the magical number. Penn has four great options for the goalkeeping position, according to the team, but only time will tell if four is truly too many or a blessing. “I could probably say without hesitation, I’ve been at Penn 18 years and this is probably the deepest goalkeeping crop that I’ve had in my time at Penn,” Fuller said.

With every season comes a set of new faces eager to translate their athletic achievements in high school to the collegiate level.

It wasn’t the ending anyone had hoped for. Three games into the Ivy League season last year, everything was looking up for Penn men’s soccer.

Penn men’s soccer is entering unique territory in the program’s history.  Two years removed from an Ivy League title, gone now are graduated mainstays like Duke Lacroix and Kamar Saint-Louis.

Hurricane Erika may have skirted Florida last week, but a new storm is heading south this weekend.

In preseason practice, Penn football wide receiver Christian Stapleton broke his finger, sending him to the trainers.

It is by no means uncommon for a weekend doubleheader to feature clear high- and low-water marks. Only this weekend for Penn men’s soccer, the high point found them threatening to summit the pinnacle of the collegiate landscape, and the low point featured a team that was almost unrecognizable from earlier.

Three games into Nicole Van Dyke’s tenure, Penn women’s soccer is firing on all cylinders. And to hear her players tell it, most of the credit should go to the first year coach.