The Red will have a testing weekend ahead at Penn and Lehigh. A Red win would be notable in the Penn game as it would provide the team with the longest season-opening win-streak in the history of the program, founded in 1972. After opening the season with a string of non-conference wins, the Red will finally be able to compete against an Ivy League competitor today. Ball control: Senior attack Kelley Kantarian (16) and the Red will look to keep their perfect season going this weekend.

“We take every game seriously, but there always seems to be something special about the Ivy League,” said senior co-captain Katie Kirnan.

The Red (4-0) will be facing a talented Penn (2-3) team whose below-.500 record belies the fact that two of their three losses were by only one goal. Penn sophomore goalkeeper Kieran Sweenie has a .714 save percentage on the season. The Quakers have lost three of the last four against the Red, but hold the overall series advantage at an impressive 21-10-2. The team will be on foreign ground, playing on a different turf style than they have been used to, which may be to their disadvantage. However, the Red has been practicing on Schoellkopf Field this week, so as Kirnan put it, there will be “no excuses.”

On Sunday, the Red will take on the Lehigh Mountainhawks (2-3) of the Patriot League, against which Cornell has a dominant 16-1-1 all-time record. Their backup goalkeeper, junior Lilia Stefaniwsky, who has come in for an injured starter, has a .833 save percentage on 12 shots and hence may play a key role in Sunday’s matchup. Another key pointer of the game is that the Red has been 41-8 under head coach Donna Hornibrook in games when it has scored first, so coming out strong will definitely prove to its advantage.

The Red earned seven votes in this week’s NFHCA Division I national Coaches Poll, the most since October 2008, and the most under Hornibrook.