Despite the poor record, Penn has been competitive in most of its games as three of its four losses were one-goal setbacks.

And the Quakers did not miss a beat when their starting goalkeeper, junior Alison Friedman, went down with a sprained ankle the day before the trip to Ithaca. Sophomore Gerianne Kauffman stepped into the net and stopped eight Cornell shots, good enough for a spot on last week's Ivy League Honor Roll.

"Penn is always a strong team, and we have to rebound from our loss at UMass," said junior forward Kate Nagle.

Nagle, riding a five-game scoring streak, has emerged as one of Harvard's biggest offensive weapons. Along with tri-captain Dominique Kalil and sophomore forward Eliza Dick, Nagle is tied for the team lead with five goals on the season.

That trio of scorers, with the help of freshman Kalen Ingram, will attack the Quaker goal, whether Friedman or Kauffman is minding the net for Penn.

"We just need to play hard and be offensive," Dick said. "The problem at UMass was too many mental lapses. But we came back with some good practices to finish the week, and if we play tough and stay in the game, we'll be fine."

On defense, the Crimson can rely on tri-captain Anya Cowan, the reigning Ivy League Player of the Week. Cowan recorded 23 saves against Yale last Saturday and leads the Ivy League with a .857 save percentage.