Last year, Penn field hockey’s opponents probably had one plan to keep the ball out of their net: find Alexa Hoover and keep the ball as far away from her as possible.

On the second day of Fall, Penn had a hard time standing up to a much more experienced Tiger squad at the Palestra. After battling back to force a decisive fifth set in their Ivy opener, Princeton took control en route to a victory over the Quakers.

A controversial foul call in the 29th minute proved to be the difference on Saturday, as Harvard senior Midge Purce’s penalty kick gave the Crimson a 1-0 victory over the Quakers in the Ivy League opener.

Penn field hockey took a trip to the Empire State this past weekend to take on Ivy rival Cornell and No. 1 Syracuse in what is one of the toughest weekends on their schedule.

Welcome to the big league. That’s what this weekend looks like for Penn women’s soccer as they begin the Ivy season by hosting Harvard.

She’s undersized. She’s young. She’s 1,500 miles from home. And outside hitter Courtney Quinn is leading the way for Penn volleyball in her sophomore campaign.

Upstate New York has served as a notable battleground in American history. That legacy will continue this weekend as Penn arms itself for two of the hardest encounters it will face this season.

Ask any civilian on the street who the nation’s premier power couple is, and you’ll probably get some varied responses; Kim and Kanye, Beyonce and Jay-Z and Brad and Angelina are among many names that might get thrown out there. But within the realm of Penn Athletics, the answer is quite simple: Bob and Juli.

Teams often hope for intense competition at the end of their preseason schedules to prepare themselves for the regular season.

A pair of third-year defensive specialists are coming together to put the team first, even though they'll never wear the same uniform.

It’s a footrace. Penn goalkeeper Kitty Qu is off her line the second the ball slips past her defenders, but is not quick enough to see it secured into her hands.

With five former captains having graduated this spring leading to an unprecedented senior-less roster, it’s no secret that turnover has been a constant storyline following Penn volleyball in 2016. But, at least for one weekend, it seemed everything was the same as always for the Red and Blue.

The cross country team continued their winning streak this weekend with both the men’s and women’s teams taking first at the Main Line Invitational on Friday afternoon.

This Saturday, it was the Sophia Palacios show. The sophomore attack had the best game of her young career, scoring both goals in a 2-1 win in double overtime.

For the record — they’re identical. A pair of Penn women’s cross country runners have been tearing up the trails in tandem, but their connection goes much deeper.

Saint Joe's will likely struggle to accomplish anything at the Big 5 Tournament this weekend, on account of not having a volleyball team, but Penn and the other three squads involved enter the round-robin affair with high hopes. The Quakers will see some more local action this weekend, the final weekend before Ivy League play kicks off.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Penn Women’s Soccer is thinking just that heading into the weekend coming off a three game winning streak. The Quakers (3-1) will look to continue their dominance of late when they host Towson and neighbors Drexel on Friday and Sunday, respectively. The Red and Blue are coming in with loads of momentum right now, after picking up two solid wins this past weekend at Delaware and home for Lafayette.