PHILADELPHIA – Coming off an unbeaten weekend at Rhodes Field, the University of Pennsylvania women's soccer team readies for another two-game weekend with a trip to Bucknell scheduled for Friday and a home matchup with Loyola (Md.) on Sunday.
Through the first two weekends of the year, Penn is 2-1-1 with wins over Towson and Mount St. Mary's, a 110-minute, double-overtime draw with Fairfield and a loss at No. 3 Stanford in the rearview.
Ivy League on ESPN
You will be able to find all Penn home women's soccer matches, as well as road Ivy matches, on ESPN+ this fall with the same high broadcast quality you used to get from the Ivy League Network. ESPN+ is a new, subscription-based service that offers monthly ($4.99) and yearly ($49.99) plans. Go to plus.espn.com to subscribe, or go to ivyleague.com to find more information.
MATCH DAY 5 – Penn (2-1-1, 0-0 Ivy League) at Bucknell (2-4, 0-0 Patriot League)
Friday, Sept. 13 | 5 p.m. | Lewisburg, Pa. | Live Stats | Watch
Series Information
Penn leads 5-3-3 | Last meeting: 2017, Bucknell 1-0
The Quakers lead the all-time series, largely on the back of a four-game win streak over the Bison, ranging from 1997 through 2005. Before that surge in victories, Bucknell led 2-1 with three draws mixed. Penn and Bucknell renewed the series after an 11-year hiatus in 2017 with the Bison scoring the game's only goal at Rhodes Field.
MATCH DAY 6 – Penn (2-1-1, 0-0 Ivy League) vs. Loyola (1-4, 0-0 Patriot League)
Sunday, Sept. 15 | 4 p.m. | Rhodes Field | Live Stats | Watch on ESPN+
Series Information
Penn leads 4-2 | Last meeting: 2014, Penn 1-0
In six meetings, the Quakers picked up four wins, all by one goal, including the 1-0 triumph in the most recent meeting in 2014. Before that, the two programs didn't meet since 2005 when Loyola picked up a 3-0 win in Md.
Woodard's Weekend
In the doubleheader weekend of games against Fairfield and Mount St. Mary's, Woodard scored both of the Quakers' goals, slipping home a chance in the 48th minute against the Stags to go up 1-0 before scoring the game's only goal in the seventh minute versus the Mount. After an injury-riddled season in 2018 – her first at Penn – Woodard has already doubled her scoring output with a pair of goals just four games into the new year.
Loving Showing The Love
Through the first three seasons of her career, Emma Loving recorded just two assists. Four games into this season, however, the senior forward assisted on all three of the Quakers' first three goals, raising her career total to five, including two against Towson.
Jackie Bruder's Sophomore Boost
Last year as a freshman, in a season somewhat slowed by injury, Jackie Bruder scored a goal and recorded an assist. Now, with a season under her belt, Bruder managed to match those numbers through just two games. She scored Penn's lone goal at third-ranked Stanford to open the season and then assisted on Emily Sands' goal at home to Towson earlier in the week with a little back-heel flick.
Leading The Qu
Qu snapped the single-season program records for GAA (.35) and save percentage (.912) and also broke the career record for solo shutouts (19) in 2018. This year, Qu racked up a career-high 13 saves in a remarkable performance at No. 3 Stanford and with a shutout win over Towson, Qu now has 20 career solo shutouts.
The Sandstorm Enters TopDrawerSoccer's Preseason Top 100
Senior forward Emily Sands, who finished 2018 with an unthinkable seven game-winning goals – the third-most in the country – begins her final campaign inside TopDrawerSoccer's Preseason Top 100 watch list at No. 97. Sands led Penn last year with eight goals and two assists, earning first-team All-Ivy honors. Through four games this season, Sands leads the Quakers with four points, picking up a goal and an assist.
Ivy League Champions
Last season, Penn clinched a share of the Ivy League championship, its first since 2010 and fourth all-time. The Quakers became the first team since 2008 to win the title without winning its league opener, a 0-0 draw with Harvard. Penn shared the title with Princeton, who handed the Quakers their only league loss of the season and snatched the NCAA Tournament bid in the process.
Boxing In The Bison
Through six games, Bucknell sits at 2-4 while playing in five one-goal games, including a 1-0 loss at home to fellow Ivy Cornell. The Bison – like Penn – defeated Towson.
Looking At Loyola
The Greyhounds enter the weekend 1-4 with a matchup at home against VMI set for Friday night. Loyola's lone victory came at home to Seton Hall in overtime, and dropped a 3-1 result to Yale during its current four-game losing streak.
#FightOnPenn
