Harvard will look to sophomore forward Melanie Baskind, shown here in earlier action, to provide an offensive spark in its game against the Penn Quakers tonight. Baskind, with two goals on the season, is tied for the team-lead in scoring along with senior forward Katherine Sheeleigh.

Despite starting the regular season with a losing record, the Harvard women’s soccer team—the two-time reigning Ivy League champion—still has a target on its back. When conference play begins tonight, Penn (3-3-0, 0-0 Ivy) will have the first shot at dethroning the Crimson (2-3-1, 0-0), and Harvard will try to reassert its dominance over the Ivy League as the two teams square off at Rhodes Field in Philadelphia, Pa.

“Everyone’s opening up this weekend,” Crimson coach Ray Leone said, “so who knows what’s going to happen? It’s going to be exciting. It’s anyone’s game whenever you play anyone in the Ivy League.”

“This is our conference,” co-captain Katherine Sheeleigh said. “We’re not playing non-conference games anymore. Every game matters, and we only have seven games before we reach our ultimate goal of getting the Ivy League Championship.”

Since Harvard’s 2-0 loss to the Quakers two years back, the Crimson has been exceptionally dominant against the rest of the Ancient Eight, going 11-1-1, including a 3-2 victory over Penn last year at Ohiri Field. But every season is a new one, and even though Harvard has recently enjoyed success, it cannot afford to be complacent in its search for a third consecutive title.

“It’ll be a fierce game—there’s no question,” said Quakers coach Darren Ambrose in an interview with the Penn Sports Network this week. “I think the pressure is a little bit on them, for sure. They’re the defending champions, and they’ve got good players. But I think we’ll be ready for the challenge.”

The Crimson hopes to even out its 1-2-0 road record this season with a win tonight. With ten of its 17 games on the road this season, this game is an important stepping stone in Harvard’s quest for a three-peat.

On the other sideline, Penn has had a very up-and-down season to date, splitting the results in each set of weekend games. In all three wins, junior goalkeeper Caroline Williams has shut out the opposing team, and, with a .857 save percentage and 0.67 goals-against average, scoring against her will prove to be difficult.

“Our goal every game is to take advantage of all our opportunities,” Sheeleigh said. “No matter how tough the other defense is, we want to turn the backline, send out our players, use our numbers, and take our chances.”

Goals have been hard to come by for the Crimson so far. Harvard’s offense is led by the tandem attack of Sheeleigh and junior Melanie Baskind, each with two goals on the season. In addition, junior forward Patricia Yau, and freshmen forwards Elizabeth Weisman and Peyton Johnson have tallied a goal apiece. Yet, even with an advantage over its opponents in corner kicks, 41-33, the Crimson has been outscored 11-7. As a result, defense will be a key for Harvard to claim victory. If history repeats itself, it may take a shutout to put the Quakers away: Penn failed to score a goal in each of its three losses.

“We have play quickly,” Leone said. “Both teams are going to come out excited and ready to play. The best thing that we can do is to be ready for anything. We need to focus on our game plan and defend together.”

The Quaker’s offense may not garner as much attention as its defense has, but the Crimson cannot afford to fall asleep on the defensive end of the field. Penn freshman Kathryn Barth has scored two goals, and classmate Christina Hart, sophomore Erin Beck, and senior Kaitlin Campbell have each tallied a goal of their own.

With the excitement of the Ivy League opener approaching, it is easy to forget that this will be the first Ancient Eight game for the freshmen. For Harvard, many first-years have gotten the opportunity to play and have shown that they fit right in with Leone’s gameplan.

“The freshmen are all playing at a remarkably high level,” Leone said. “But the Ivy League is a whole different type of game. As the other girls on the team will say, it is an experience that you just have to get used to.”