Two in a row? Perfection?

Both could happen for the Harvard softball team, as the defending Ivy League champions open up conference play this weekend with doubleheaders against Princeton and Penn.

The Crimson (9-13) posted an 11-1 record in Ivy play last year, with its only loss coming to Dartmouth. Harvard finished four games ahead of Big Green, however, claiming the team's second-ever title under Head Coach Jenny Allard.

The Crimson's chief competition within the Ivy League this year will come from Cornell and Princeton. Both the Big Red and the Tigers (5-6) were ranked among the Northeast's top teams.

Harvard is not ranked currently.

"If anything, [our absence from the rankings] is a motivator," sophomore catcher Monica Montijo said. "But the rankings don't mean a lot to us. We want to play for us, not the people who make the polls."

Indeed, Harvard's concentration is focused inward.

"We, probably more than anyone, can beat ourselves," tri-captain Jen Vogt-Lowell said. "We have a tendency to overthink and overreact, so we want to not beat ourselves before anyone else has the chance."