PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania field hockey team returns home for the last time this season as the Quakers host Brown on Saturday at noon. The game will serve as the team's senior day and the program will celebrate the careers of Paige Meily, Kelsey Mendell, Rachel Mirkin, Sofia Palacios, and Karen Seid prior to the contest.
Penn moved to 4-1 in Ivy League play and is tied for second with Princeton after defeating Yale, 2-0 on the road last Saturday.
This Weekend's Schedule
Saturday, Oct. 27
PENN (8-7, 4-1) at BROWN (6-8, 1-4)
Around the Ivy League
Princeton (4-1) at Cornell (0-5), Saturday at 11:30 a.m.
Columbia (2-3) at Yale (2-3), Saturday at noon
Harvard (5-0) at Dartmouth (2-3), Saturday at 1 p.m.
The Ivy League on ESPN
Penn's game against Brown, as well as all home field hockey games and Ivy League away games, will be broadcast on ESPN+ as part of The Ivy League's new partnership with ESPN. ESPN+ is a new, subscription-based service that offers monthly ($4.99) and yearly ($49.99) plans. Click here to subscribe to ESPN+ and start your free trial! Click here for frequently asked questions about the Ivy League on ESPN.
Previewing Penn
*Penn has set up one of the toughest schedules in program history, with eight of its 17 games coming against opponents ranked in the current NFHCA Coaches poll. North Carolina (No. 1), Princeton (No. 5), Harvard (No. 6), Iowa (No. 9), Saint Joseph's (No. 12), Syracuse (No. 14), Delaware (No. 16), and Wake Forest (No. 19) have all received votes as of the Oct. 23 edition of the rankings.
*The Penn field hockey class of 2019 will be stepping onto Ellen Vagelos Field for the last time in their Penn careers this Saturday. The class includes Paige Meily, Sofia Palacios, Kelsey Mendell, Rachel Mirkin, and Karen Seid, who were all key contributors over their careers at Penn.
*The Class of 2019 amassed 41 wins and 17 Ivy League victories over their four-year careers.
*The Quakers are outscoring Ivy League opponents 9-4 over five matchups this season and have posted shutouts against Yale (2-0, Oct. 20), Columbia (2-0, Oct. 12), and Cornell (1-0, Sept. 22).
*Penn returns seven starters and 17 letter winners from the 2017 squad and welcome nine freshmen to the roster in 2018. Among the returners are two All-Ivy selections: Meily and junior Alexa Schneck. Both players are two-time All-Ivy selections.
*Schneck leads the Quakers in all offensive categories. She has a career-high 21 points from eight goals and five assists this season. She has 15 goals and 11 assists for her career. Schneck has eight career game-winning goals after opening the scoring in Penn's 2-0 victory over Yale on Oct. 20.
*Schneck has six goals and two assists in five Ivy League games this season. She ranks first among Ivy players in goals scored (6), goals per game (1.2), points (14), points per game (2.8), and game winning goals (3).
*Mirkin has posted her best goal-scoring season with Penn, tallying three goals. Two of those goals were game-winners, in a 1-0 2OT victory over No. 14 Wake Forest on Aug. 31 and a 2-1 win over Villanova on Sept. 7. Mirkin has two career game-winning goals at Penn.
*Penn's team captains this year include Meily, Schneck, and Palacios.
*Meily has three assists this season and ranks second on the team. Meily tallied five assists in her junior year and seven in her sophomore year, a total of 15 for her career. She scored the first goal of her career against Drexel on Sept. 16, converting on a penalty stroke.
*Palacios registered her first points of the season, providing the assist to Schneck's game winner against Dartmouth on Oct. 6. Palacios has nine goals and six assists in her Penn career.
*Junior Ava Rosati established herself as Penn's starting goalkeeper midway through last season. She has five shutouts this season, six in her career, and has made 59 saves over 15 games this season.
*Rosati ranks first among Ivy League keepers in conference play with three shutouts and 0.60 shutouts per game.
*Sophomore Erin Kelly scored her third goal of the season and fourth of her career against Lafayette on Oct. 8. Kelly ranks second in goals scored and points (8) for the Quakers.
*Sophomore Erin Quinn has scored two goals this season after scoring against Yale on Oct. 20.
*Freshman forward Julia Russo scored her first goal for Penn against No. 12 Syracuse on Sept 23. She ranks second on the team with 29 shots.
*Freshman Madison Jiranek scored her first collegiate goal, opening the scoring in Penn's 2-0 victory over Columbia on Oct. 13.
Assessing the Opponent: Brown
Brown enters the matchup against Penn with a 6-8 record and a 1-4 record in Ivy League play. Penn holds a 30-8-3 series record against Brown and has won the past seven matchups. The Quakers have outscored Brown 22-8 in those games.
#FightOnPenn
