Cornell, W. Soccer first foe in vie for Ivy repeat

Penn women's soccer coach Darren Ambrose had to regroup his team after Wednesday's game against La Salle.

It wasn't that the Quakers had lost, or that they had forgotten how to score as they seemingly had during the season's opening weekend.

Rather, Ambrose's preoccupation was on the second half of the game, a 45 minutes that saw the Quakers avert a near potential disaster.

Nursing a 3-0 halftime lead, the Quakers imploded, allowing four Explorer goals. Fortunately for Penn, its offense was up to the task. Freshmen Carolyn Cross and Jenna Linden, alongside vaunted upfield threat Katy Cross, mustered a pair of goals to salvage victory, 5-4

If the Quakers (3-2) think they can play a lackadaisical half on Saturday in Ithaca, N.Y., they are mistaken.

"Cornell is always well-coached," Ambrose said. "They are very well organized, and they are a tough team to break down. They're patient and they'll make you chase the ball.

"That was evidenced when I looked at the tape from last year. They will take advantage of your mistakes."

The Quakers won last year against the Big Red, 2-0, but Ambrose isn't about to take it for granted -- not on a squad with 10 freshmen who have never experienced rivalry of this magnitude.

Katy Cross, who leads Penn with five goals this season, remembers vividly her first Ancient Eight match.

"My first Ivy game we played Dartmouth and unfortunately lost," Cross said. "I guess we didn't realize the difference in competition of the out-of-league games compared to the Ivy games.

"You have to get into the game faster, be ready for harder tackles and a faster pace."

The loss to the Big Green, 2-1, came at Rhodes Field and was the Quakers' first blemish of the year.

This season, however, Penn has already dropped two games, heightening the stakes. Coupled with a hostile environment, a victory against Cornell may be hard to come by.

"It's tough to play on the road in this league," Ambrose said.

He hopes his squad can respond to the fallout it suffered against La Salle, much like it did last year in a close victory against Delaware, 6-4. The 2001 Quakers went on to post a gaudy 13-2-3 record en route to their first Ancient Eight championship.

A repeat campaign hinges on the performance of the freshmen. Against the Explorers, the two aforementioned rookies -- Linden and Carolyn Cross -- seized their opportunities.

Linden, whom Ambrose praised as a "dynamic" offensive player, scored twice and added an assist. Cross, to her credit, nailed the game winner.

"I've been here for two freshman classes and I think they're both equally talented," Ambrose said. "I think the [preseason] recognition this class got was in part due to last year's freshmen."

Now it's Ambrose's task to focus the first-year players in what will soon be the biggest game of their brief Penn careers. This has proven to be a challenge, however, as Ambrose wants to have his team ready to play, but wants to avoid inciting any pregame jitters from his rookies.

His recourse so far -- eschew the issue.

"I haven't addressed it much," Ambrose said. "I haven't built it up with them because I don't want them to feel too much pressure."

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