Quakers look to senior duo for team leadership

Veteran leadership is the lifeblood of most successful sports teams. For Penn women's soccer -- a unit dominated by first- and second-year players -- the burden will fall on seniors Jen Valentine and Heather Taylor.

Valentine, a defender, and Taylor, a forward, are the lone seniors on the team. With freshmen challenging for starting spots and providing depth, it will be the pair's responsibility to keep the Ivy League contender on track.

"The most important thing with there only being two seniors is kind of teaching the team how to use what little experience we have," Valentine said. "Basically, we just have to make sure everyone knows the importance of playing against these teams that we're up against."

It would be one thing if the Quakers merely wanted to be competitive, but the leadership challenge extends far beyond. Penn is coming off a monumental season in which it defeated Harvard for the first time, finished 13-2-3 and claimed the Ancient Eight championship.

Moreover, this is a squad that emerges from the off season brimming with hype. The Quakers are ranked No. 22 by SoccerAmerica.com and the incoming class is touted as the sixth best in the Mid-Atlantic region.

"The rankings are basically a great honor, but it means nothing until we start proving it on the field," Valentine said. "We just need to take it one game at a time. That's the most important thing.

"If we start letting things get way ahead of ourselves and we start looking at the end of the season, we're not going to take care of business Friday against Richmond."

Taylor accredits last season's success to the same day-by-day approach.

"That's how we did so well last year," she said. "If you keep looking too far ahead, then you get caught playing terribly against a team you should kill."

Taylor and Valentine assume different kinds of leadership roles. While the forward leads by action, the defender speaks out.

"[Valentine] definitely is the leadership on the field," Taylor said. "She's really vocal, which is awesome. She's definitely direct, not only to the underclassmen, but to everyone."

Valentine echoed mutual respect for Taylor's example-setting style.

"When the level starts to drop, she'll come through with an awesome tackle or a good one-touch pass or shot that kind of takes the level up," she said.

Though their leadership styles differ, the senior duo shares much in common. They've both witnessed -- first hand -- the evolution of the program.

Taylor said that when she arrived after being recruited by then-coach Patrick Baker, the season's main thrust was toward defeating Harvard. Now, Penn women's soccer is being attached to words like "Ivy League champions" and "NCAA qualifiers."

Part of the change has been coach Darren Ambrose, and part of it has been talent. Since Ambrose's hiring in 2000, the coach has provided stability and an ability to recruit, which has paid dividends.

"From our freshman year, you'd have people who would want to play, but you wouldn't know how much. I think our class is a good example of that -- we're two left out of a class of 11," Taylor said.

"People pick it up, and every year [commitment] has risen. It shows on the field and it shows at practice."

Valentine and Taylor hope that the team's recent success will be a precursor to future glory. The Quakers, in only the 11th year of the program, are on the brink of developing into a perennial contender.

"If the players can come in and Darren stays here, I think they're doing everything right," Taylor said. "They're headed in exactly the right direction, right to the top.

"If they can keep improving and keep getting better players and keep raising the level, without a doubt we'll be top-10, I'd say, in four years [or] five years."

Before that day comes, however, the seniors must first complete their final season. Once again, the attention shifts back to leadership.

"This season, my first goal is to be a good leader to the team, make sure we stay positive and have fun," Valentine said. "If we play our best, I can't ask anything else. Whatever comes with that, that's what happens -- sometimes it's out of our hands.

"It's focusing on the little things. If we take care of those, the big things will come."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.