W. Lax | Avenging a Cardinal sin

As the Penn women's lacrosse team prepares to face Stanford in the final game of the regular season, Becca Edwards, for one, is eyeing revenge.

"I think we really have a lot of motivation," the senior said. "[Stanford is] the only team that we lost to in the regular season last year, and personally, for me that's the game I tore my ACL in, so I think it will be a fun game for us."

The Cardinal beat the Quakers, 10-8, and according to junior Ali DeLuca, "I think last year, it was one of those games where we didn't have our heads in the game."

The Red and Blue look forward to making up for that loss against No. 14 Stanford Saturday at Franklin Field.

After their first loss of this season against Northwestern Saturday, the No. 3 Quakers (13-1) will prepare hard to get back on track.

"I think [the loss at Northwestern] taught us to work harder," Edwards said. "To be the best, you really have to put everything out there and make it happen by working hard, sticking with the game plan and playing lacrosse correctly. I think this loss made us realize that."

It is hard to compare No. 1 Northwestern (18-0) to Stanford (12-4) because the Wildcats have a completely different style from any other team. Also, Stanford has a new coach this year, Amy Bokker, who actually played on Penn coach Karin Brower's team at William and Mary when Brower was a senior and Bokker was a freshman in 1992.

"[Bokker has] definitely changed how they're playing, and they're playing very well, and they play a little bit different defense than a lot of the teams we've played against," Brower said. "They go in and out of a zone. . We'll have to practice against that."

Against the Cardinal, Penn plans to continue with its current defensive strategy, but with an added focus on getting in front of Stanford's cutters.

Stanford has typically had high scorers in the past, and this year they average 15.12 goals per game, which gives them the leg up on Penn's 11.49. The Quakers, however, have confidence that their defense - which still is first in the nation despite giving up 11 goals to Northwestern - can thwart the Cardinal's attack.

"We have one of the best defenses in the country," DeLuca said. "In terms of attack and taking the ball to the goal, if we have the same gameplan that we've had for the rest of our games, we'll come out successful."

Saturday is Senior Day, and after a tough blow from Northwestern, the team looks forward to playing closer to its usual style of play.

"I think we just really want to make sure to play our game and get back on track," Edwards said.

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