W. Lax | Tar Heels look to keep W. Lax on its toes

North Carolina has the speed, Boston University wants revenge and Yale is a whole new team.

As the rest of Penn heads off to spring break, the women's lacrosse team looks forward to a set of tough games against a myriad of opponents.

Today the No. 6 Quakers will play the No. 9 Tar Heels (3-1). The following week, Penn faces BU (2-1) Wednesday and Yale (1-2) Saturday. All three games will be at Franklin Field.

In the past, the Quakers have been able to slow down the notoriously quick Tar Heels. Last year, Penn edged out an 8-7 victory on a last-second goal.

"They like to have a fast going game, a lot of fast breaks, and we need to play our game," coach Karin Brower said. "That's going to be the big thing: Do we play solid defense? Do we control the ball?"

According to senior Becca Edwards, her team plans to keep possession as much as possible. She hopes to improve on last Friday's game against California, where the Quakers were "sloppy" in the first fifteen minutes of play.

"We're trying to focus on crisp and precise passes because UNC plays high pressure defense," she said.

The Red and Blue also expect to play a difficult game against BU, which they beat last year in the NCAA quarterfinals, 8-5. In 2007, Penn knocked the Terriers out of the first round of the tournament, winning 11-5.

"They're definitely scrappy, and they're definitely going to put up a fight with us," Edwards said. "I think that they want to avenge their own losses in the last two years."

According to Brower, BU's senior midfielder Sarah Dalton is "one of the best attackers in the country."

"She's a great player, and we are really going to have to do a good job of shutting her down," Brower said.

Dalton scored eight goals for BU against William and Mary earlier this year, leading the Terriers to a 14-13 victory in double overtime.

The real surprise next week will be Yale, which has a new coach, Anne Phillips. Phillips led Franklin and Marshall to a Division III NCAA Championship in 2007.

Besides a new coach, Yale also graduated five of their top players.

"They're in a rebuilding stage, but it will also be a different Yale team than we've seen," Brower said.

In 2008, the Quakers were tied, 4-4, with Yale at halftime. But they were able to shut the Bulldogs out the rest of the way and won, 10-4.

"Last year . we knew what we were going to see, and we knew who their big players were," Brower said. "This year, I think it's more about what kind of style they are playing. It's going to be very different."

Like the Bulldogs, Penn has also altered its style of play.

"We're an entirely different team, and I think a lot of these teams are also very different," Edwards said. "I think we're excited to play because all of them are good teams that will give us good opportunities to come away with big wins."

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