W. Lax | Third time's the charm?

The last few years of strong defense have served the Penn women's lacrosse team well, as it was largely responsible for the team's trips to the 2007 NCAA Final Four and last year's national championship.

But this season, in hopes of taking that extra step and winning the title, coach Karin Brower has shifted her focus to a whole new part of the team-: the midfield.

"It's going to be a totally different look on the team this year, which is exciting," she said.

In order to account for the loss of seven graduated starters, including the top two scorers from 2008 - Rachel Manson and Melissa Lehmanm, respectively - the No. 5 Quakers will play five players in the midfield - more midfielders then they have had in the past.

"It's a different team." Brower said. "We have...the strongest midfield that we have ever had."

Brower expects this plan to give other teams difficulty defending the Quakers, giving Penn more open looks at the net.

"A lot of girls are stepping up," said sophomore Giulia Giordano, who scored 31 points as an attacking midfielder last year. "I just really want to focus on defense now because I didn't get to do as much last year."

Besides Giordano, Brower will look to junior Emma Spiro and senior Kaitlyn Lombardo to score from the midfield.

"[Spiro and Lombardo] know that they need to score this year, and they've done a nice job so far," she said.

Of course, the defense will also be filled with new faces.

First and foremost, Penn is now without Sarah Waxman, a two-time National Goalkeeper of the Year and the 2008 Ivy League Player of the Year. The Quakers also lost defender Tarah Kirnan and defensive midfielder Kaitlin Farmer.

With their new lineup, the Red and Blue hope to secure their third consecutive Ivy League title, but their ultimate focus is on the NCAA championship. Their eyes are especially on rival and four-time consecutive national champion Northwestern.

Two years ago the Wildcats dominated Penn in Evanston, Ill., 13-4, then destroyed them 12-2 in the Final Four. Last year, Penn beat the Wildcats at home, 11-7, ending Northwestern's 36-game winning streak. However, in the NCAA championship in Towson, Md., the Wildcats got their revenge with a 10-6 victory. All told, the Quakers ended 2008 with a 17-2 (7-0 Ivy) record.

This year Penn will face the No. 1 Wildcats April 25 in Evanston. Penn will play seven other currently ranked teams, though just one of those games (No. 15 Johns Hopkins) is on the road.

"We have a really strong schedule this year, so a lot of our games will be hard," senior captain Katie Mazer said. "Whatever we did last year seemed to work pretty well, so we're just trying to build on that."

Looking ahead, Penn's new gameplan may make it stronger than ever - even more dangerous than last year's second-place squad.

"I think we have a lot more firepower this year than we did last year," Brower said.

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