The Yale women’s lacrosse team will travel to Philadelphia on Saturday to play against the Quakers in one of their last remaining games of this season.

The Bulldogs will play against Penn, a team that recently just lost their first place lead in the Ivy League this past Wednesday. The Princeton Tigers, to whom the Bulldogs lost 7–5, defeated the Quakers in a close 9–7 matchup. With this result, the Elis (7–6, 2–3 Ivy) look to create another loss for fellow in-conference team Penn (10–3, 4–1 Ivy).

“This weekend we are looking forward to the competition,” attacker Emily Granger ’18 said. “We know we will need to step up our game, and [we] are ready to accept the challenge. Coming off of a win against Dartmouth, we are hungry for another.”

The game against Dartmouth was also the team’s senior day. All seven seniors started on the field, leading the team in a fight against the Big Green.

The competition from the last Dartmouth game to this upcoming game against Penn will surely heighten, according to players interviewed. The Quakers are ranked No. 20 on the national Division I college rankings. For the Quakers, losing to No. 13 Princeton was a well-fought defeat.

“It is going to be a hard-fought game,” defender Maggie Moriarty ’16 said. “But Coach Anne Phillips does not plan our season lightly. [W]e have already played highly ranked teams such as UMass, Denver, Cornell and Princeton. At this point in the season, we are definitely conditioned to play at a consistently top level in any given game.”

In Ivy statistics, Penn has scored a total of 137 goals to date, while Yale has hit the net 113 times. In contrast, the Bulldogs have surpassed Penn in total number of assists this season at 43, while the Quakers have 38.

In ground ball pickups per game, Yale is still a top contender in the league and sits in third place — one spot above Penn. The Elis reverse their position and trail the Quakers at second place in the league for forced turnovers.

With such similar standings, the offensive and defensive matchups will clash this weekend. Besides the two teams facing off against each other, there will also be a pair of sisters competing against one another on the turf.

“The battle of the defenses is definitely going to be fun to watch, especially with the two Markham sisters out there,” defender Flannery Carney ’16 said. “I believe our team has the tools to beat Penn, and our goal is to come together and play with fight and fire.”

Defender Emily Markham ’17 meets her sister, Quaker defender Meg Markham in a sibling rivalry this weekend.

For the last month, the Elis have played their games every Saturday with no competition in between. The last four games of the season are all conference play, with Penn and Harvard remaining. Due to limiting only one game per week, the Bulldogs have had more time and energy to prepare for their Ancient Eight playoffs.

Now, 13 games into the season, the Yale women has seen some well earned development and improvements.

“Our team defines the word team in every sense of the word,” Granger said. “We love each other off the field and are willing to fight for one another on the field. Being best friends who will do anything for one another is going to help us step up our game and face the tough competition this weekend.”

The Bulldogs will play against the Quakers this Saturday at 3 p.m. on Franklin Field.

NICOLE WELLS