Time for payback for Penn women's lacrosse

With the regular season Ivy League title in the balance, the Penn women’s lacrosse team has the opportunity to finally get a little revenge.

The Quakers (6-4, 4-0 Ivy) host Dartmouth at Penn Park on Friday night in their first matchup since the Big Green (8-3, 4-0) upset Penn, 6-4, in the Ivy championship game last season.

Dartmouth went 2-0 against the Red and Blue last season and was the only Ivy team that beat Penn that year.

Senior attack Caroline Bunting was at a loss for words to describe how badly she wants this win.

“I don’t even know how to express how much I want the revenge,” she said.

“Losing to Dartmouth twice last year was tough for us,” coach Karin Brower Corbett said.

The game will also have far reaching implications on seeding for the Ancient Eight’s postseason tournament.

Winning the Ivy tournament is especially important for the Quakers this season, as it is likely their only possible ticket to the NCAA tournament this year after non-conference losses to Drexel and Rutgers.

“We’ve dug a hole for ourselves for national rankings, and what we have is the Ivy League,” Corbett said. “We’ve got to go out and win so we control our own destiny.”

Penn, Dartmouth and Princeton are currently tied atop the conference. While the Red and Blue need not worry about earning themselves a place at the tournament, securing home field advantage would be a huge boon in a year in which they cannot afford to lose the tourney.

Corbett emphasized the importance of playing “clean lacrosse” against Dartmouth — that is, limiting unforced errors and turnovers.

“If we can be clean and they’re not, that’s going to be a big difference,” she said. “If we’re both going to throw the ball away, it’s going to be who fights harder and who has more heart.”

The Quakers will also need a stronger offensive performance than they mustered against the Big Green in their last meeting.

“In the tournament, we should have won, but we didn’t capitalize on attack,” Corbett said. “If you’re going to have a team only score six goals you should win, and that is on the attack.

“I’d really like to play a complete game against Dartmouth from the first whistle to the last but also on both ends of the field.”

Penn enters the game having won six of its last seven, and looks to keep rolling against Dartmouth.

“Obviously Dartmouth has been a struggle for us the past couple years, but I think that we’re looking pretty good,” Bunting said. “We’re 4-0 in the Ivies, and we’re looking to continue that streak.”

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