A win over Princeton could get the Quakers a bid to the tournament. The Penn women's soccer team entered last year's season finale at Princeton in search of its first Ivy League win. This year, the situation is quite different. The Quakers and Tigers are both scorching hot and will be playing for a possible NCAA Tournament position in tomorrow's game at Rhodes Field. Penn (12-3-1, 5-1 Ivy League) has dropped only one conference game this year -- a 2-1 overtime heartbreaker to No. 9 Harvard. Since the Red and Blue's opening day loss to Pittsburgh, the Quakers have been defeated only twice in 15 games. Princeton (12-3-1, 4-1-1) has been almost a mirror image of the Quakers this year. The Tigers opened their season with two losses but have lost only once since. That 1-0 defeat also came in overtime at the hands of the Crimson. Princeton's lone tie was against Yale, a team which Penn slid past 1-0 in double-overtime a week ago. Add in the drama of the historic Quakers-Tigers rivalry, and this game has all the makings of a classic. "I think the Penn-Princeton rivalry always creates an intense atmosphere," Princeton coach Julie Shackford said. "Both teams are very similar and very even, so whichever team that capitalizes on chances will win." The winner would gain a share of the Ivy League title if Harvard (6-0) is upset by Brown (0-5-1). While this scenario seems unlikely, four of the Bears' five conference losses have been by only one goal, so Brown has been consistently competitive. "Who knows what's going to happen in that game," Penn coach Andy Nelson said. "Brown doesn't want to finish the season without a win, so there's a lot of pride involved there. They have every incentive in the world to win the game." Even if Harvard loses, it would still receive the conference's NCAA automatic bid because the Crimson would win the head-to-head tiebreaker. As a result, both Penn and Princeton are left to seek an at-large bid from the NCAA. Selections will be made Sunday evening, so the impact of tomorrow's game should be major. The Quakers enter this weekend ranked No. 6 in the Mid-Atlantic region, and the Tigers follow at No. 7. The school that wins has a strong chance of making the field but the loser is all but eliminated from contention. "It will depend on a lot of things," Nelson said. "If there are a lot of upsets in conference tournaments, then teams which would not have made the tournament will have automatic bids and the more successful teams will be competing for at-large bids." The Quakers will be without the services of sophomore midfielder Sarah Campbell, who has been out of action with a second-degree MCL sprain. Freshman goalkeeper Katherine Hunt will be playing and will be going for a team-record fifth-straight shutout and her record-tying 10th of the year. The Tigers, however, are expected to present quite a challenge. "During preseason we played Princeton [a 1-0 Penn win on August 30] and I got a good idea of the rivalry then," Hunt said. "I try not to think about my personal statistics but just go out and play the game." The game will likely be played mostly in the midfield, with each team receiving few realistic scoring opportunities. Reigning Ivy League Player of the Week Kelli Toland has been Penn's best player at taking advantage of those opportunities in recent games, and is looking to add to her team-high 23 points on the year. The implications of last year's game could not have been more different. The Quakers entered their final weekend of the season without an Ivy League win despite going undefeated outside of the conference. Princeton, after starting the season 9-2, was experiencing similar problems, losing five games in a row entering its game against Penn. The Quakers prevailed, handing the Tigers their sixth straight loss and earning their first conference win with a 2-0 victory. This year, the stakes are much higher as the two schools are playing for a possible NCAA Tournament spot and perhaps even a share of the conference title. This is how the Penn-Princeton rivalry was meant to be.
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