The Penn field hockey team is coming off two more disappointing losses in a season that has been littered with heartbreaking defeats from the beginning.
After seeming to have turned a corner with their play, the Red and Blue had won three straight games and were riding high heading into their showdown with Yale last weekend.
However, a 2-1 loss in strokes to Yale and 2-0 loss to nationally ranked Penn State has left Penn almost right back where they were before, five games below .500 and still hovering near the bottom of the Ivy League standings.
Sunday, the Quakers will try to get back on track as they host Brown.
The Bears are currently riding high with a three-game winning streak of their own.
After a rough start to their own season, Brown has fought back and now boasts a 7-7 record and has a chance to pull to 3-3 in league standings.
Laurel Pierpont has led the attack all season for Brown. She has 11 goals on the season and leads the team in points, having more than twice as many as her closest teammate.
One problem that Brown has had all year, though, is playing on the road. Brown has yet to win a single contest away from the friendly confines as they bring an 0-5 road record into this weekend's game at Franklin Field.
Also working against Brown is the much improved play of the Red and Blue.
After starting their season very slowly, the Quakers have come on lately. The offense, despite being shut out against Penn State, has shown signs of life.
Led by sophomore Liz Lorelli and senior captain Kylee Jakobowski, the offense has scored 14 goals over the past five games.
The defense has also improved its level of play dramatically since the beginning of the season.
After getting beaten for 12 goals in the first three games, the defensive unit has come together quite nicely, allowing only 20 goals in the 12 games since. This improvement of almost 2.5 goals per game less is one of the reasons that Penn has been playing better in the second half of the season.
With Brown coming to Penn's home field and the improved play of the Red and Blue, the Quakers have a good chance of picking up their second Ivy League victory of the year.
With a showdown against Princeton looming in the distance as the final game of the year, the Quakers would love to get back on a winning track against Brown before heading into the finale against their chief rival.
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