PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania field hockey team will open its 2021 season this weekend with the Ivy League/ACC Conference Crossover at Princeton, battling two of the best squads in the country.
 
GAME DAY 1: Penn vs. #5 Louisville
Friday, Sept. 3 | 12 p.m.
Video Stream (ESPN+) | Live Stats
 
GAME DAY 2: Penn vs. #1 North Carolina
Sunday, Sept. 5 | 11 a.m.
Video Stream (ESPN+) | Live Stats
 
Ivy League on ESPN
A reminder that the Ivy League is paired with ESPN and you will be able to find all Penn home games, as well as road Ivy matches and select non-conference road games, on ESPN+ this fall with the same high broadcast quality you've come to expect. ESPN+ is a subscription-based service that offers monthly and yearly packages. Click here to subscribe to ESPN+!
 
The Series with Louisville
The Quakers and the Cardinals will meet for the first time on Friday.
 
About Louisville
The Cardinals are off to a hot start to the 2021 slate, scoring nine goals in two shutout victories over Ohio and New Hampshire. They enter Friday's game as the fifth-best team in the country after finishing last season in the NCAA semifinals to Michigan following a sudden-victory shootout.
 
The Series with North Carolina
The Quakers will be looking for their first win against the Tar Heels, as UNC owns a 4-0 record. The past four times have been since the 2016 season, and each of those games the Heels were ranked in the top two in the nation.
 
About North Carolina
The Tar Heels are coming off one of the best seasons in program history, going 19-1 and winning the national championship with a 4-3 overtime win over Michigan. However, it's been a tough start for the reigning champs and currently top ranked team in the nation. In the first weekend in the season, UNC fell to Michigan and Iowa in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge to head into the weekend with a 0-2 record.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*With the 2020 season canceled due to Ivy League regulations regarding the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, when Penn takes the field on Friday, the Quakers will be playing their first intercollegiate match since November 9, 2019.
 
*Penn returns its three leading scorers from the 2019 season in Elita Van Staden, Maddy Fagan and Madison Jiranek. Van Staden paced the squad with seven goals, while Fagan put away five goals and three assists and Jiranek added five finishes and two helpers.

*On the backline, Gracyn Banks returns after a summer after helping USA field hockey secure bronze in Chile at the 2021 Junior Pan American Championship.

*In 2019, the Quakers had four All-Ivy honorees and three have returned for the 2021 slate. Banks, Jiranek and Van Staden each earned their first career All-Ivy accolade, taking spots on second team.

*With three goalkeepers on the roster, each will be looking for their first collegiate minutes in the cage this weekend. Sophomores Sabien Paumen and Hayley Hayden came in last season for competition within the squad, while freshman Frederique Wollaert joins the program this year.

*The Quakers have a lot of upperclassmen experience rolling into the season, totaling seven seniors and seven juniors all with significant collegiate minutes.

*Head Coach Colleen Fink and Associate Head Coach Katelyn O'Brien each enter their 12th season with the program, while the rest of the staff in Sydney Rhodes, Gretta Ehret and Susan Ciufo-Bennett beginning their first year with the Quaker staff.