Cross owns numerous Penn scoring records, including points in a game (9), goals in a game (4), points in a season (38), goals in a season (16), points in a career (113), goals in a career (45) and—most recently—assists in a career (23).

In short, Cross is as unstoppable as any player that the Ivy League can boast.

As a freshman, she tallied a hat trick in the Quakers’ 3-1 win over Harvard. In the last two seasons, however, the Crimson have experienced more success against Cross, as Harvard allowed her just a single shot in a 0-0 tie in 2002.

In last year’s 2-1 Crimson victory—a game in which Cross had a perfect opportunity to tie the game in the 71st minute but was stopped by Shields—Harvard held her to a lone assist.

“Cross is good on the ball,” said Barber. “She’s a great player. We talked about [neutralizing her] a bit in practice. We just need to get to the ball first, and she’ll get frustrated in the first 20 minutes of the game.”

Meanwhile, senior forward Emily Colvin leads the way for Harvard with two goals and an assist. Freshman midfielder Jamie Greenwald boasts two goals on just two shots, while junior forward Sara Sedgwick, sophomore midfielder Katie Johnston and Moran—the team’s leading scorer last season—have each contributed a goal.

Shields has seen most of the action in goal, while Barber anchors the backs in front of her goalkeeper. While Cross and her teammates will surely be a test, Harvard is confident that it will kick off its Ivy League schedule on a positive note.

“We’re going to come away with a win at Penn,” said Moran. “We know what we need to do now, so I think we’ll have the result we’re looking for.”

—Staff writer Jonathan P. Hay can be reached at hay@fas.harvard.edu.