This was, in many ways, the Penn women's soccer team's season in microcosm.
Sixty-nine seconds after the kickoff, Princeton forward Theresa Sherry chipped Quakers goalkeeper Vanessa Scotto from long range, and Penn found itself trailing, 1-0, for the 12th time this season.
Four minutes later, Penn junior forward Katy Cross tied the game, but Princeton defender Elizabeth Pillion gave the visitors a 2-1 lead in the 43rd minute. A first win over the Tigers in Penn coach Darren Ambrose's tenure -- and in the careers of Scotto and fellow senior Heather Issing -- still seemed elusive.
But Scotto -- playing her last game in a Penn (9-5-3, 3-3-1 Ivy) jersey unless a surprise invitation to the NCAA College Cup comes today -- and Cross were determined to overcome history.
And they did just that.
Displaying the pace and creativity which made her last year's Ivy League Player of the Year and Penn's all-time points and goals leader, Cross gave the Quakers a 3-2 lead with goals in the 52nd and 64th minutes.
Then Scotto made it stand, stopping nine Princeton (11-2-3, 4-2-1 Ivy) shots in the second half. The most dramatic save, a diving stop on a shot by Tigers' midfielder Emily Behncke, came with 15 seconds to play -- and the Red and Blue sealed a thrilling 3-2 win in their last game of the season.
"It's just a great win for us," Scotto said. "For me it's probably the best win of my career."
Cross' three goals were all the result of good set-ups. Her first one came from a through ball by freshman defender Cathy Roe, which Cross took on the right wing. The Claremont, Calif., native sprinted almost half the length of the field, then jumped over and flicked the ball past sprawling Princeton goalkeeper, Madeleine Jackson.
On the second goal, junior Rachelle Snyder -- who created havoc all afternoon in the Tigers' half of the field with cutting runs from the flanks -- crossed a ball into the box, which Issing headed down and Cross slotted home. The hat-trick was completed off a free kick by Penn junior midfielder Lydia Bojcun, which found fellow junior Lauren Bome's head but was cleared. The ball fell to Snyder, who sent it to Cross for a close-range volley, giving Penn a 3-2 lead it would not relinquish.
Those three goals gave Cross 16 on the season, and 38 total points -- both new school records. She previously held both of those records.
"I just really don't like Princeton," Cross said. "I don't like the way they play, I don't like their attitude and that just makes me fight."
After the game, Ambrose praised "not only [Cross'] pace but her sense of anticipation today. And she read the game well and that made her look even faster than she is."
When it was all over, the players stormed the field and swarmed Scotto. They were joined a few moments later by Ambrose, who seemed to be letting loose the built-up emotions from a season which didn't quite go according to plan.
"A lot of the time you see my emotions come out in the coaching and motivation side of it," Ambrose said. "But today you saw it come out in just pure emotion and pride and happiness for this team. Those seniors have never beaten Princeton and if I'm a senior that's the way I want to go out."
For Issing, who will graduate in May but has a year of eligibility remaining and has yet to decide whether to use it, Ambrose's words rang quite true.
"It is one of the best feelings," she said. "It was one of our goals in the beginning of the season, it was one of our goals in the middle, and one of the goals at the end, and we accomplished it."
Penn finishes the year tied for fourth place in the Ivy League with Harvard. Dartmouth finishes on top after beating Cornell, 5-0, Sunday, with Princeton second and Brown third. Had Brown tied Yale on Saturday night instead of beating the Elis, 1-0, in New Haven, Conn., Penn would have finished third.
Dartmouth will receive a College Cup berth as league champion, with Princeton all but assured of going as runner-up. Brown also has a chance of getting an at-large slot.
