W. Soccer ends season with loss

The final game of the season was a fitting end to the Penn women's soccer team's year. In a season of "what ifs" and "almosts" and "should haves," the Quakers finished the season with a 3-2 loss to Princeton Saturday. "It was really disappointing," junior co-captain Heike Krippendorff said. "I saw a difference the moment we stepped out. We wanted this win really badly." After Princeton took an early 1-0 lead, sophomore Lisa Paster tied the game. The Tigers captured one more goal to gain a one-goal advantage going into halftime. Sophomore Yuka Morita tied the game off a corner kick by junior co-captain Meg Kinney, but the Quakers (4-11, 1-6 Ivy League) could not hold off the Princeton offense. "It shows a lot that we were down and came back and tied it," Paster said, "and we were down again and tied it again. When we played high-pressure offense, we were really effective and they started to make mistakes." Despite Saturday's letdown and the team's failure to establish a new record for wins in a season, the Quakers, who do not graduate a single player, have a positive outlook for next season. "Coach [Patrick] Baker definitely made a difference," Krippendorff said. "We're much more organized. We've made incredible steps this season. I felt we were moving much more as a unit." Although the team is still very young and inexperienced, the Quakers insist this season has been an extremely positive one, despite a sub-par record. "There's a marked improvement in our play," Paster said. "Towards the end of the season, we started to play together. We were much more competitive this season." The Quakers are very satisfied with the season and feel they have made immense progress, no one denies plenty of work remains in the offseason to improve. "We need to work on putting the ball in the net," Paster said. "We need to work on playing a little quicker out of the back. Team confidence will come when we start beating more teams. That will come with time and more experience." Other than time and experience, Penn will need a massive recruiting class and an intense offseason training schedule. The Quakers said this transitional season will be improved upon next year. With some quality recruits and a lot of hard work, perhaps next season will begin in a more fitting manner.

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