PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania women's soccer team awaits a pair of teams from south of the Mason-Dixon Line this weekend, hosting UMBC at Rhodes Field on Friday before traveling to Towson on Sunday. The Quakers are riding a two-game win streak – their second of the season – after a pair of wins in Annapolis, Md. against Delaware and Navy.

Sasha Stephens and Allie Trzaska are commanding plenty of buzz as Stephens' two-goal weekend claimed Ivy League Player of the Week accolades and Trzaska's five assists through five games tops the nation in assists per game.

IVY LEAGUE ON ESPN
The Ivy League Network has paired with ESPN and you will be able to find all Penn home games, as well as road Ivy matches, on ESPN+ this fall with the same high broadcast quality you've come to expect. ESPN+ is a new, subscription-based service that offers monthly ($4.99) and yearly ($49.99) packages. Click here to subscribe to ESPN+ and start your free trial! Click here for frequently asked questions about the Ivy League on ESPN.

MATCH DAY 6 – Penn (4-1-0) vs. UMBC (0-6-0)
Friday, September 14 | 5 p.m. | Rhodes Field | Live Stats | Video

Series Information
Records: Penn leads UMBC 4-0 | Last meeting: 2011 (Penn, 3-0)

The Quakers have shut out the Retrievers in all four meetings, combining to outscore UMBC 13-0. The latest matchup came in 2011, when Penn won 3-0 at Rhodes Field. All four games occurred between 2007-11.

MATCH DAY 7 – Penn (4-1-0) at Towson (3-5-1)
Sunday, September 16 | 2 p.m. | Tiger Soccer Complex, Towson, Md. | Live Stats | Video

Series Information
Records: Penn leads Towson 2-1-1 | Last meeting: 2016 (Penn, 2-0)

Penn kicked the series off with a 3-1 victory in Towson, Md. in 1992 and took the latest matchup in a 2-0 shutout win at Rhodes Field in 2016. In the most recent edition of the series, Stephens scored on an assist from Trzaska.

Lockdown Defense
Penn sports as many clean sheets as goals allowed through the opening five games of the season. Behind first-team All-Ivy goalie Kitty Qu, the Quakers are tied for 15th in the country in goals against and have conceded the fewest in the Ivy League. Qu boasts an .824 save percentage with 14 saves protected by a solid center back tandem of Chase Geffert and Camillia Nwokedi that have allowed only 40 shots. Katharine Larson, Laura Hamilton and Jadyn Wilensky have helped sure up the wings on the defensive end. Two of the three goals allowed – both conceded on the road against Navy – were off free kicks. This season is the first time since 2013 that Penn completed three clean sheets in the first five games.

Balanced Attack
Nine different Quakers have recorded a point through the early stages of the season, led by Sasha Stephens' three goals. Her last two came in Annapolis, Md. against Delaware and Navy last weekend, garnering League Player of the Week honors. Three more players sit behind her with five points, including senior Allie Trzaska, who has racked up five assists and leads the nation in assists per game (1.0). Seven players have combined for 12 goals thus far.

Starting on the Right Foot
Penn is 4-0 when scoring first and has not lost when scoring in the first half. Against Delaware, Stephens scored in the fifth minute to put the Quakers ahead and freshman Jackie Bruder doubled the lead in the 28th minute. Stephens kicked things off again later in the weekend against Navy with an eighth-minute goal. The Midshipmen would answer in the 28th minute before Kelsey Andrews pushed Penn ahead for good in the 38th minute, en route to a 4-2 win.

This marks the third season in the last four years that Penn opened 4-1.

Previewing the Retrievers
UMBC arrives in University City 0-6, with four one-goal decisions in the early going. The trip is already the second to Philadelphia, dropping a 5-0 result to La Salle on August 19. The Retrievers are coming off a 2-1 loss at home to Towson, where Penn travels on Sunday.

Previewing the Tigers
Towson hosts Penn riding a three-game win streak with victories over Loyola, UMBC and Lehigh after starting the season 0-5-1. The Tigers needed overtime to defeat both Loyola and Lehigh, but have scored seven goal in the last three games. Justine Stoner leads the team with five goals.