Given that Penn lost in Connecticut last year on a field goal that drifted six inches too far to the right, it would have been a superbly ironic justice if Yale's botched snap in the second overtime on Saturday had ended things for The Team That McLeod Built.

If the Quakers hope to get past Ivy League volleyball heavyweights Dartmouth and Harvard this weekend, they'll have to start to change a disturbing trend this season: Of their 10 wins, only two have come against teams that are .500 or better. Even more telling is the overall records of the teams they've played.

Riding its first 3-0 league start in three years, the Penn women's soccer team has adopted an "if-it-ain't-broke" mentality as the season barrels down the home stretch. So far, it's hard to argue with the results. Winners of four straight, including those three Ivy triumphs, Penn (9-2-1, 3-0 Ivy) hopes to stay sharp tomorrow afternoon at Rhodes Field in a pivotal Ancient Eight showdown with Yale (7-5, 2-1).

Penn men's soccer coach Rudy Fuller knows things have to get better - and fast. Just when things were starting to look up this season, his team will now have to regroup tomorrow against Yale if it hopes to remain in contention for the Ivy League title. The Quakers' recent three-game winning streak, however, was short-lived.

Meet Mike McLeod. In the words of former SportsCenter anchor Dan Patrick, "You can't stop him; you can only hope to contain him." Yale's running back has rushed for 199 yards per game this season, and he's coming off of a career-high 276-yard performance against Lehigh last week.

Week Six seems an odd time to be cooking up title scenarios, but Yale's early dominance means it's never too soon to start talking elimination. And while the consensus No. 1 gets a tough road test tomorrow at Franklin Field, the only other unbeaten Ivy League team is getting an odd sense of deja vu this weekend.

He's still playing basketball, but sometimes it seems like Mark Zoller is playing soccer. In a league that features relegation and promotion, a 10-month schedule with one game per week, a foreign language and chanting fans, the former Penn forward is far from his comfort zone.

As the Penn field hockey team prepares for tonight's game against Yale, the same feelings come to mind as did last season: This one is a must win. "This is an Ivy game and it is imperative that we win this one," Quakers coach Val Cloud said. Just like last year, the Quakers (6-7, 2-2 Ivy) enter their game against the Bulldogs in the middle of the Ivy League with a 2-2 record.

Yale linebacker Bobby Abare, an All-Ivy first-teamer, is a singular menace on defense. But coach Jack Siedlecki is the first to admit that a locker room can't be filled with players as impassioned as Abare - and Siedlecki probably wouldn't want one. "The players sometimes laugh at his intensity, but he rubs off on people, no question," Siedlecki said at a media luncheon this week.

Mike McLeod just keeps getting better. The junior waited just two weeks to break his own Yale single-game rushing record, putting up 276 in a 23-7 rout of Lehigh that was actually the Bulldogs' second-closest game of the year and the first in which they trailed.

Senior Tim Kaijala is used to winning races. But Penn's middle distance standout, who finished first in the 800 meters last season at the Heptagonal Championships, did not even place in his most recent race. There are no 800-meter races in October. Rather than wait for outdoor track and field to start in the spring, Kaijala has taken his training to a new level as a member of Penn's cross country team this fall.

NEW YORK -- Considering that the Quakers have scored a total of 101 points in their past two games, one could logically attribute the team's newfound success to its recent offensive explosion. At Columbia, the day undoubtedly belonged to senior tailback Joe Sandberg, who put together arguably the best game of his career.

PISCATAWAY, N.J., Oct. 17 - One attack, one breakaway, one shot - all can decide a soccer game. But after playing a tight opening 40 minutes last night at Rutgers and eventually losing 2-0, that doesn't make Penn coach Rudy Fuller or the rest of the Quakers feel any better.

Throughout the Quakers 59-28 thrashing of Columbia, their offense, special teams, and rush defense were nearly flawless. Yet they allowed Columbia quarterback Craig Hormann to pile up a career-high 417 passing yards, and during both halves, the pass coverage appeared to be the weakest part of the Quakers' game.

NEW YORK, Oct. 13 - When Joe Sandberg received his 22nd and final handoff last Saturday against Columbia, he finished off one of the best performances of his career. It was fourth down and he needed only one yard. He got 13, enough for his fourth score of the game.

The game didn't start off right for the women's soccer team. But in the end the Quakers took down a struggling Dartmouth squad to keep their Ancient Eight record perfect at 3-0. The Big Green (3-8-1, 1-2-0 Ivy) jumped out to an early lead after a Ali Hubbard shot found its way past Penn keeper Sara Rose just three minutes into the contest.

Quarterback Brendan McNally didn't know when he would get to make his Quakers debut. Now he's only one injury away from becoming the starter. The 6-foot-2 sophomore spent his freshman year and the first three games of this season behind the two-headed logjam of Robert Irvin and Bryan Walker, who were vying for the No.