Drawing comparisons to Dartmouth isn't exactly what Penn had in mind for this season, but the chips have fallen that way for a team that could be about one loss away from crisis mode.

This season, the women's soccer team has looked good in nonconference play and is tied with Harvard for the Ivy League's best overall record. Throw all that out the window. Penn will be at 0-0 again when League play starts against Cornell (4-4-0) at 7 p.

Historically, Princeton has had the edge over Penn in volleyball. This year, the Quakers hope to turn that around in their favor. This Saturday, Penn opens its Ivy League season at Princeton, looking to start atop the division with a win. Penn and the Tigers have both been on hot streaks as of late.

The Penn men's tennis team came into the school year as the defending two-time co-Ivy League champions. But the Ancient Eight title isn't the only one they'll try to defend. The Quakers head into the ECAC Championships this weekend in Flushing Meadows, N.

With a slew of solid performances, it's hard to believe that the men's soccer team has only one win to show for them. But a 7 p.m. match at Saint Joseph's tomorrow could be just what coach Rudy Fuller and the rest of the Red and Blue (1-4-2) need. Although St.

The Penn volleyball team may have recorded its last upset of the season. From here on out it could be the favorite. The Quakers (6-5) defeated a strong Villanova team (9-6) in three games last night. "We are an upset team this year," coach Kerry Carr said.

When Steve Pederson, athletic director at the University of Nebraska and chairman of the Division I Football Issues Committee, briefed the media six weeks ago on the various proposals that the committee considered, there was one topic at the forefront of his mind.

When Penn State scored the winning goal in its 3-2 overtime win over Penn last night, it was Kevin Sweetland - not starting goalkeeper Drew Healy - who watched the fatal header fly by. Four minutes earlier, Healy had been sent off in a strange incident that gave new meaning to the phrase "sacrificing yourself for the team.

The Athletic Department has announced that the Line - when students sleep over at the Palestra to get their hands on the choice seats for the upcoming season - will take place on Oct. 5, the same night as SPEC's Ben Kweller concert.

Early in the first half, Penn midfielder Alex Grendi displayed remarkable footwork, dribbled past two defenders, put a shot on goal that got past Penn State goalie Conrad Taylor -- and watched it fly over the net. It was a sign of things to come for the Quakers, who played another solid game but gave up a goal with 37 seconds left to fall to Penn State 3-2 in double overtime.

Joe Sandberg is back in the lineup -and will start Saturday at Dartmouth -- but that doesn't mean he'll be carrying the ball at the clip he was before his injury. Coach Al Bagnoli said yesterday that he will be reluctant to give the running back more than 25 carries on Saturday.

"Dutch Total Football?" Men's soccer coach Rudy Fuller laughed when his team was compared to the 1970s Netherlands teams with their flowing soccer styles, where players were versatile enough to play any position on the field. But it's no joke - for the Quakers, no positions are set in stone.

Senior Dan Coleman, who usually starts at wide receiver alongside classmate Braden Lepisto, was conspicuously absent from Penn's lineup after being benched for disciplinary reasons.

Sometimes, hard work just isn't enough. That can ring especially true when it comes to basketball recruiting. Especially the case of Neil Duvall, a 6-foot-8 small forward from Southlake, Texas. After narrowing his list down to Penn and Furman, Duvall ultimately chose the latter, a South Carolina school with fewer than 2,700 undergraduates.

After weeks of blocks, kills and digs, only one obstacle stands between Penn volleyball and its Ivy League competition. In a final tune-up before the Ivy opener at Princeton on Saturday, the Quakers (5-5) begin their non-tournament schedule today at Villanova (9-5), hoping to avenge consecutive 3-0 losses to their crosstown foe from the Big East.

I'm not sure exactly what Brian Walker was thinking as he walked off the field on Saturday, or when he got up the next morning, or every morning since then. But if I were in his place, I know what I would be thinking about. Me. Or, more specifically, why me? Why me - on the bench and not on the field - and why me - rotated out time and time again to invest more PT in a younger and stronger version of myself? It's times like those that make you question all the two-a-days and push-ups.

VILLANOVA, Pa. - How did four Villanova defenders record their first career interceptions on Saturday? Easy - they were in the zone.