Big city strangers to clash at Penn

Women’s lacrosse may not be a contact sport, but a Big 5 showdown tonight could be a little rougher than usual.

“Philly teams are always scrappy, and they’re always good,” said Penn co-captain Ali DeLuca.

The Quakers (4-1) will test their physical strength tonight when they take on the one local team they have never faced before — Saint Joseph’s.

The Hawks (2-5) enter riding a four-game losing streak and battling a host of injuries, making it even harder to take on a nationally ranked Penn team.

In addition to St. Joe’s recent struggles, they will also have to battle a formidable Penn defense anchored by goalkeeper Emily Szelest.

“Penn’s got a very tough defense,” St. Joe’s coach Denise Roessler said. “I’m looking forward to having my attack compete against that.”

Szelest was recently named Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week after recording 12 saves total against Hofstra and Harvard.

“The goalie doesn’t stand alone out on the field so the defense plays a huge part in that,” the senior keeper said.

“Before the games we look at those players who are the big scorers and the big attackers,” she said. “We really try to prepare our defense to prevent them from penetrating.”

One of those big scorers heading into the contest is St. Joe’s senior Jenna Martino.

Last season she netted more than a quarter of the Hawks’ points, including a program-record 57 goals.

But she’s not alone this year.

Roessler emphasized that much of their scoring has come from Grace Dinn and Jen Peters, two of eight sophomores in Saint Joe’s starting lineup.

Penn coach Karin Brower Corbett meanwhile, will counter with a well-balanced attack of her own.

“We want to have seven scorers,” she said, “so that when they have that opportunity that they can finish, it’s not like they’ve never been there before.”

The ten-year coach was pleased with Penn’s offense in its victorious Ivy opener against Harvard on Saturday, stressing that the Quakers are finally moving the ball with the fluidity she wants.

Meanwhile DeLuca remarked that the 16-6 win was a significant morale booster after sub-par results in the first two spring break games.

Penn could only scrape a 6-5 home victory over unranked Hofstra a week ago, while earlier the Quakers dropped a seed due to an upset from then-No. 4 North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Absent from all three matches was injured defender and co-captain Emma Spiro.

She will not play tonight, and it is not yet certain if last year’s Ivy League co-Player of the Year will make an appearance during Saturday’s road trip to Yale.

“She’s getting better every day and we don’t want to push her,” Corbett said.

Still, DeLuca is confident that Penn can still hold up the Hawks’ offense even without her fellow leader.

“If we play our defense like we always have, we’ll be able to stop them,” she said.

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