John Cesarine

Tri-captain Eileen Larkin said that this season, the women's soccer team is focused on improvement. She and her teammates seem to have forgotten that they're the Ivy League champs. It also must have slipped the Quakers' minds that they did not lose a single player from last year's squad, whose 13 wins were the second most in in program history.

Leslie King is looking for "city bragging rights." Even though the Quakers' Ivy League Championship hopes have come and gone, they still have plenty for which to play. Penn (21-19) will face city rival Drexel (21-16) at home today in a doubleheader at Warren Field.

Freshman Jess Lupardus has an interesting explanation for her success from the pitcher's circle. The Birmingham, Ala. native grew up with her single mother, who played volleyball at the University of Alabama. Her father died from heart failure after a triple bypass surgery when she was only a year old.

If there were ever a time when one person could impact an entire weekend of softball, this was it. Quakers freshman pitcher Jessie Lupardus left her mark on the weekend as Penn hosted a pair of doubleheaders against Yale and Brown. Going in with the lowest earned run average in all of Division-I softball (0.

This year's men's golf team has an opportunity to do something that it has only had a chance to do once before: defend the Ivy League title. But the 2008 Quakers squad will have to find its own way to win because only two of the five starters from last year's championship lineup return.

Talk about learning quickly: The softball team will play more games this spring break than it has year. Penn (2-2 ) will travel to Orlando, Fla., to take part in the Rebel Spring Games. They will play 10 contests over six days, with just one day off. Their opponents include seven different teams from all over the country: Cleveland State, Butler, Tenesee-Martin, Indiana-Purdue, Robert Morris, Monmouth and Wisconsin-Green Bay.

Ever since they began practicing in January, the young Quakers have been anxiously awaiting their first taste of collegiate softball. They were supposed to begin their season on Saturday, but forecasted inclement delayed their opener further. On Sunday, the Red and Blue finally took the field against Lafayette, but even then they had to wait 11 innings to find out the result of their first game.

It's already been a milestone season for the women's squash team. The Quakers were the first Penn squad ever to visit South Africa, where they experienced 10 days full of cultural experiences and excellent squash. They followed that up with an undefeated regular season and their second Ivy League title in program history, en route to a No.

Senior night for the men's squash team will definitely be one they will never forget. But not for good reasons. The Quakers fell 9-0 to No. 2 Princeton last night, and only one match lasted longer than three games. They are now just 39-6 against the Tigers over the past five seasons.

After all the glory of Wednesday - when Penn won five straight games to topple its arch-rival, No. 1 Princeton - it's back to business as usual for the women's squash team. On Saturday, the Quakers (8-0) will host their final two home matches of the seasons, taking on unranked George Washington and No.