W. Soccer Looks To Defend Penn's Cross

It does not take a sports genius to pick out the deciding factor in the most recent women’s soccer contests between Harvard and Penn.

In 2001, then-freshman midfielder Katy Cross scored a hat trick for the Quakers, who defeated the Crimson for the first time ever, 3-1.

In 2002, with then-junior back Lauren Cozzolino assigned to roam around the field with her, Cross could manage only a single shot and the teams fought to a scoreless tie.

So how is Harvard (2-3-1) planning to deal with Cross—who has led the Ivy League in scoring for the past two seasons—when the Quakers visit Ohiri Field at 11 a.m. tomorrow?

“Last year, we worried about her specifically,” junior back Liza Barber said. “We haven’t talked about anything like that this year.”

Rather than devote his entire defensive strategy to stopping one player, head coach Tim Wheaton has decided instead to adopt a wait-and-see approach with Cross, adapting as her threat becomes apparent.

“We haven’t really decided that yet,” Wheaton said. “But our defense is ready.”

The team is confident that the new formation it employs this year, which places four defenders in the back row, will be able to contain the Penn (3-0-2) offense—and its prolific scorer.

Cross, for one, welcomes the challenge of facing a Crimson defense that has allowed just a single goal in its last three contests.

“We’re excited to have a tough opening [Ivy League] game,” she said.

As the season got underway, it looked for a while like the Crimson would not have to worry as much about Cross, who was held without a goal in her first three games.

However—and likely to Harvard’s chagrin—she has tallied five goals in the Quakers’ two most recent games, breaking the all-time Penn career goal and scoring records in the process.

“I was more excited because they were my first goals this year [rather than because of the record],” Cross said. “It was good to get out of my scoring slump. Now I’m pretty much back in the swing of things.”

And that’s potentially disastrous news for Harvard.

The contest will mark the beginning of Ivy League play for both of these teams, which means that the match will have added importance.

“Preseason is over,” Barber said. “We definitely know that the results start to count now. It’s good that we’ve played teams close [so far], but we can’t lose close games anymore.”

While the Quakers enter the game with a better record than the Crimson, Harvard feels that its accomplishments are best measured in factors other than wins and losses.

“The Virginia game [last Sunday] was the best we’ve played all year, effort-wise and soccer-wise,” Barber said. “We know the level we can play at.”

Additionally, although Penn has the better record, it has only played two teams with winning records and no ranked teams.

Harvard, on the other hand, has played against four teams with winning records and four teams currently ranked in the top 25.

“No offense to Penn, but they’re not a top 25 team,” senior midfielder Katie Westfall said.

Despite the importance of the game, Wheaton knows that every match is another opportunity for his players to learn.

“We’ve played some of the top teams in the country and it’s going to be a good test for us to see what we need to work on,” he said.

Defeating the Quakers would be a great first step for the Crimson in its quest for the Ivy League championship, a feat that has thus far eluded all of the current players on the team.

Penn has not lost since October 16, 2002, when it fell to Delaware 1-0.

Although Harvard is confident in its abilities, none of its members are ready to write off any of the other teams in the league.

“The Ivy League is incredibly competitive this year, not only with the relative equality of the teams but also with the emotional components,” Wheaton said.