Ask any member of the Penn cross country team and they will tell you that their focus lies on the months ahead.

Penn men’s soccer, still nursing the wounds of last season, nevertheless enters a new year with optimism and a set of fresh, young faces who will look to make their mark on the field.

Two games into the 2016 season, Penn men’s soccer is undefeated. It’s also winless. 

2015 was a year to forget for Penn men’s soccer. Three wins from 16 games, including just one against a conference opponent.

After a stellar start to the 2016 season, Penn men’s soccer will be looking to this weekend’s trip to Nebraska as an opportunity to assess the team’s improvement and depth. This Friday’s contest against #8 Creighton (1-1-0) followed by Sunday’s clash against University of Nebraska Omaha (2-1-0) provide two difficult matches in three days, the only time this season that the Quakers (0-0-2) will have such a short turnaround. Interestingly, the two Nebraska universities will come into the weekend having played each other in their most recent game, Monday night.

The final boxscore never seems to tell the whole story. That was certainly the case for Penn field hockey in both games played this weekend: a dominant 2-0 victory over Lehigh as well as a hard-fought and well-contested effort in a 6-2 loss versus UNC. On Friday, the Quakers (1-1) hosted Lehigh (1-2) in the Red and Blue’s season opener.

The Quakers messed with Texas, and while their record is worse to show for it, morale is certainly not headed down south.

It seems the lack of success last year can be attributed to two main points: youth and injuries to the team’s few experienced leaders. In 2016, look for those issues to be almost completely resolved.

If you got to Rhodes Field 10 minutes late for Sunday’s game, then you missed a couple of things. 

You know the old saying, “new year, new me?” Well, Penn men’s soccer is taking that to heart this brand new season. Flip back the calendar a year, and the Quakers limped out of a 4-0 loss to high-power American University team.

College sports have two different philosophies when it comes to the buildup to conference play: some teams prefer to ease into the big games, building confidence, while others prefer to test themselves and raise the stakes. Penn women’s volleyball has taken the latter approach this year. Over the next three weekends, the team will play in three tournaments against a myriad of opponents from across the country.

For a typical head coach, summer vacation might signal the time to hit the recruiting trail, scheme for the upcoming season and enjoy the rare opportunity to unwind with the constant frenzy of the school year taking a brief pause. But Penn volleyball coach Kerry Carr did things a tad differently.

Kerry Carr could have opted to select her whole senior class as the team's group of captains for a second straight year.

There are some things in this world that I’ll never understand: quantum physics, rainbows, Amy Gutmann’s ability to defy age and how Penn field hockey remains criminally underrated each and every year.

If anyone thought Penn field hockey’s success in 2015 was a fluke, they’re more than ready to tell you otherwise in 2016. After achieving a 13-3 record last season and finishing tied for second place in the Ivy League after a heartbreaking overtime loss to rival and Ivy champ Princeton, the Quakers look poised to make a jump into the national spotlight this season.

Some people just live to help others. Last year for Penn field hockey, that statement applied to nobody better than Elizabeth Hitti, whose 18 assists in her senior year saw her break both the career and single-season school records in the category.

The challenge for the Quakers is two-fold this weekend. Not only are they coming up against a pair of top-tier teams in Lehigh and North Carolina — their opponents are already into their seasons.