The weather was indicative of the mood at the conclusion of the Penn men's soccer game on Saturday.
Amidst torrential downpours and intense winds, Harvard defeated the Quakers, 2-1.
This heartbreaking loss was the first in the Ivy League this season for the Red and Blue and prevented them from winning the Ivy crown outright.
Instead, the No. 16 Quakers (11-3-1 overall, 5-1-1 Ivy League) will share the Ivy League title with Dartmouth.
"I just think we didn't respond well to the situation we were in," Penn coach Rudy Fuller said. "We didn't respond well to the conditions."
The Big Green also end the season 5-1-1 in the Ancient Eight -- after beating Brown, 3-0, on Saturday -- their only loss coming at the hands of Penn.
With Penn's first Ivy title since 1980, the Quakers earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Selection for the tournament is today, and the Quakers will learn the course of their pursuit of the NCAA's top prize -- the College Cup.
It will be Penn's first tournament appearance since 1977.
"We certainly wanted to win," Fuller said. "But I would rather learn the lesson now than in the first game [of the playoffs]."
As for Saturday's game, Fuller gives the Crimson (9-6-1 overall, 3-3-1) credit for being able to teach the Quakers a lesson in the sloppy weather conditions.
"Harvard deserves a lot of credit for battling through it," Fuller said. "For doing what they had to do to get the win here today."
The Quakers did take the early lead, however. Penn freshman Erik Violante netted a penalty kick at 17:47 in the first half.
The Crimson would not respond until the second half, but they came out after the break and outplayed the Quakers.
"In the second half we knew it was going to be a game of ball winning and battling," Fuller said. "I think we just got outworked and that changed the game."
The Crimson scored their first goal at the 57:42 mark, when Harvard senior Charles Morrow drove the ball past Quakers' goaltender junior Matt Haefner.
Eleven minutes would be all the Crimson would have to wait for the go-ahead goal.
Senior Joe Steffa netted a penalty kick with slightly over 21 minutes remaining in the contest.
The intensity and importance of the game, combined with the conditions, added a violent aspect to the play.
Two cautionary yellow cards were issued to Harvard and one to Penn. Both Harvard head coach John Kerr and one of the assistant coaches were thrown out of the game after an argument with the referee.
