Penn women's lacrosse travels to Harvard for final contest before Ivy Tournament

Penn women's lacrosse will aim to spoil the last home game for Harvard's soon-to-be graduates on their Senior Day.

This Saturday, the Quakers will head to Cambridge, Mass., where the Red and Blue will take on the Crimson in their final Ivy League contest of the regular season.

The Red and Blue (10-4, 4-2 Ivy) are looking to finish off this year's conference play with another Ivy League win. A victory would preserve Penn's 18-year win streak against the Crimson (6-9, 2-5).

The last time the Quakers fell to Harvard was in 2000, but with star Penn players like junior attacker Gabby Rosenzweig, junior midfielder Erin Barry, and sophomore attacker Zoe Belodeau, the odds look to be in Penn's favor.

After suffering a pair of tough losses to ranked teams in No. 10 Princeton and No. 12 Dartmouth — both games saw the Quakers jump out to first half leads before struggling in the second period of play — Penn looked to rebound last weekend, and they did just that in a blowout win over Columbia. The resounding 21-7 victory, in which the Red and Blue took a 14-3 lead over the host Lions into halftime, has re-energized the team ahead of the final weekend before postseason play.

“We have a huge opportunity to finish out the season strong,” Rosenzweig said. “The game plan this weekend is to continue coming out with fire and energy.”

Rosenzweig, who is pacing the Quakers in assists and points with 44 and 72, respectively, has had a phenomenal season thus far. Against Columbia, she notched five points behind two goals and three assists. The junior has registered multiple points in each of the Quakers' 14 games en route to solidifying herself atop the Ancient Eight in points per game, as she is the only player averaging more than five points each time she takes the field.

“We’ve been working really hard on attacking against a zone, and I’m really excited to see us put it together this weekend,” Rosenzweig said.

Rosenzweig also leads the way among Ivy League players in assists per game with 3.14. Nevertheless, she is receiving plenty of help from a strong supporting cast.

Belodeau is right behind her teammate with a total of 44 points, which include 12 assists and a team-best 32 goals.

The Red and Blue will need to play with more consistency and put in a full 60-minute performance in order to to secure their fifth Ancient Eight success of the season. The Quakers' troublesome second half showings will not treat the team well in tournament competition when teams bring more intensity to every aspect of the game, so this weekend's clash with a Harvard team that the Quakers have dominated for nearly two decades should be a fantastic opportunity to build momentum.