More fans and emotion in W. Soccer's tie with Princeton

The Penn women's soccer team had just come from behind to tie Princeton, a top-20 team. But in the post-game huddle, some of the Quakers found it hard to crack a smile.

It just wasn't the moral victory kind of game.

The Quakers were partly upset because they no longer control their own destiny in seeking the Ivy title. To even share the crown with the Tigers, Penn now has to beat Harvard next week and needs Yale to defeat Princeton .

"The fact that it is now harder for us to win the Ivy League and that [our destiny] is not all in our hands is disappointing," Penn freshman Katy Cross said.

But the Quakers were upset for another reason. On a day when emotions were boiling over at Franklin Field like water from an overheated pot, the Red and Blue seemed to expend more energy and desire than anyone.

"Everyone was involved," Cross said. "There were people sitting out and people cheering. The enthusiasm surrounding the game just made us want to play harder.

"This is the first time we've given everything. What this game meant made us go out and play even harder than we thought we could."

And the emotional fervor away from the field was abundantly evident.

For Penn women's soccer standards, there was a huge crowd. Fans were even peppered on the hill behind the south goal at Rhodes Field, overflowing from the sidelines.

And these supporters were very vocal. Largely backing the Red and Blue, fans barked at the referee, heckled members of the Tigers and even disparaged the Tigers' fans.

Even the referee, whose job compels him to be unswayed by emotion, could not detach himself from the intensity of the game.

At one point, he gave a mocking thumbs-up to the Red and Blue supporters who heckled him after he made a call in favor of Princeton.

Clearly, this heated contest evoked all sorts of emotions from the crowd.

And those kind of emotions provoked the Quakers, who played with increased intensity.

The Tigers, for their part, played a very physical contest, often using a push or a hold to stop the Quakers' flow. But this physical play didn't bother the Red and Blue.

"We're rivals and we knew that both teams would do everything to win," Cross said.

But what did bother the Quakers is the fact that, for all their input, the result they have to live with is a tie.

"I think after the game everyone was just sad because we worked so hard, and yet we tied," sophomore goalkeeper Vanessa Scotto said.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.