PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania field hockey team hits the road for the last time this season as the Quakers travel to Princeton for a showdown with the fifth-ranked Tigers. With a victory and a Harvard loss to Columbia, Penn can earn a share of this year's Ivy League title for the first time since 2004.
Penn moved to 5-1 in Ivy League play and is tied for second with Princeton after defeating Brown last Saturday, 1-0.
This Weekend's Schedule
Saturday, Nov 3
PENN (9-7, 5-1) at PRINCETON (12-4, 5-1)
Around the Ivy League
Dartmouth at Cornell, Saturday at 11:30 a.m.
Columbia at Harvard, Saturday at noon
Yale at Brown, Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
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. 8), Saint Joseph's (No. 10), Delaware (No. 14), Syracuse (No. 17), and Wake Forest (No. 20) have all received votes as of the Oct. 30 edition of the rankings.
*The Quakers ranked No. 24 in this week's edition of the NCAA Rating Percentage Index (RPI). Five of their opponents this season rank within the top ten (UNC – 1, Princeton – 4, Harvard – 6, Iowa – 8, Syracuse – 10).
*The Quakers have outscored Ivy League opponents 10-4 over six matchups this season and have posted shutouts against Brown (1-0, Oct. 27), Yale (2-0, Oct. 20), Columbia (2-0, Oct. 12), Cornell (1-0, Sept. 22).
*The last time Penn posted four or more shutouts against Ivy League opponents was in 1993. The Quakers shut out five opponents and finished the season with a perfect 6-0 record en route to an Ivy League Championship.
*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 six Ivy League games this season. She is tied for second among Ivy players in goals scored (6) and third in points (14) against league opponents.
*Schneck ranks first in game winning goals (4) among Ivy League players across all competitions.
*Mirkin has posted her best goal-scoring season with Penn, tallying four goals. Three of those goals were game-winners, in a 1-0 2OT victory over No. 14 Wake Forest on Aug. 31 a 2-1 win over Villanova on Sept. 7, and a 1-0 shutout victory over Brown on Oct. 27.
*Penn's team captains this year include Meily, Schneck, and senior Sofia 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 six shutouts this season, seven in her career, and has made 60 saves over 16 games this season.
*Rosati ranks first among Ivy League keepers with six shutouts this season and 0.375 shutouts per game. She ranks first among Ivy goalkeepers in league play with 22 saves and a save percentage of 0.846.
*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.
Processing Princeton
*Princeton welcomes Penn for the 46th meeting between the teams, with the Tigers leading 26-16-3, and holding a 14-5-2 advantage on home turf. They will prove to be a tough matchup for Penn after winning the last 13 games, and 23 of the last 24.
*Penn's last victory over Princeton came in 2004. The Quakers defeated the Tigers 2-1 on the road to earn a share of the Ivy League championship with Harvard.
#FightOnPenn
