For the entire season, Saturday's date with Princeton loomed large for the Penn women's soccer team. Now, in the aftermath, the Quakers are probably wishing they could do it all over again.
In Princeton, N.J., the Quakers fell to the No. 9 Tigers by a score of 4-1. Tallying the lone goal for Penn (9-6-2, 4-2-1 Ivy) was senior Rachelle Snyder, who scored off an assist from fellow senior Devon Sibole.
Considering the match represented the culmination of the team's season, the loss proved more devastating than the three-goal deficit would indicate. Not only was it the last game in a Red and Blue uniform for the nine graduating seniors, but it was also a battle between bitter rivals.
The first half, however, was anything but a battle. The Quakers turned in a lackluster opening performance, and the skilled Princeton team took advantage. A mere 13:45 after the opening kickoff, Esmeralda Negron tallied a goal for the Tigers.
She didn't stop there. The period saw Negron score two more goals, completing the hat trick just three minutes before halftime.
Rounding out the Princeton scoring was Romy Trigg-Smith, whose goal was assisted by none other than Negron. Negron finished the first half with seven points on three goals and an assist. Almost before the Red and Blue could even get their bearings, they were already out of the most important game of the season.
"I'm disappointed with how we played in the first half, and how we lost the game in the first half," Penn coach Darren Ambrose said. "We did not get good performances from some key people that we needed performances from, and when that happens, you don't win games, especially against good teams."
The stakes on Saturday were not as high as they could have been. Princeton (15-2, 7-0) had already clinched the Ivy League title, and with it the automatic NCAA Tournament bid. Penn, with its double-overtime loss to Yale on Oct. 23, had already been mathematically eliminated from capturing the league title.
Still, it was a Penn-Princeton athletic event, not be taken lightly. In addition, the Quakers still had postseason aspirations. Hoping for an at-large bid, a win over a top 10 opponent would have bolstered Penn's tournament resume and helped it get some much needed attention from the selection committee.
"The season was a good season," Ambrose said. "It leaves a bitter taste in your mouth when you finish with the worst result and probably the poorest display. And that's what's disappointing; we had so much to play for, and yet we didn't play with that in mind. ... It didn't show all the work we'd done during the season."
As it stands now, it would be nothing short of a miracle if the Red and Blue were invited to the NCAA Tournament. Although Penn finished third in the highly competitive Ancient Eight, it lacks key wins. On the season, the team was 0-4 against ranked opponents.
After their first-half meltdown, the Quakers held the Tigers without a goal in the second half, and even got on the board themselves when Snyder netted home a feed from Sibole at 63:30. Outshot 11-1 in the first half, Penn pulled it to a much more respectable 9-5 in the second.
Unfortunately, it was too little, too late. The result held and the Quakers were handed their worst loss of the season. Princeton ended up outshooting Penn by a margin of 20-6.
The Red and Blue can only blame themselves for the humbling defeat.
"With all due respect to Princeton, I don't think they beat us yesterday as much as we beat ourselves," Ambrose said. "They were obviously a very good team, and once you start making those kinds of mistakes, they are going to punish you for that, and that's what they did."
Now with its season over, all the program has left to do is regroup. The team will be losing a talented senior class that included eight starters and the top two scorers, Snyder and Katy Cross. Added to that, if this season was any indication, the Ivy League will only get more competitive.
"We'll be a very different team," Ambrose said. "When you lose this many players, the team takes on a new identity. We don't know what that identity will be. It's far too early ... So I think we'll be a good team, but we'll just be a team with a different look, and we're going to need some of our returning players to step up a little bit and assume some of the roles that have been taken by some of the upperclassmen since last year."
PENN 0 1 -- 1Princeton 4 0 -- 4
First Half -- 1. Negron (Pr) 13:45 (Trigg-Smith); 2. Trigg-Smith (Pr) 26:59 (Negron); 3. Negron (Pr) 28:06 (Griffiths); 4. Negron (Pr) 41:13 (unassisted)
Second Half -- Snyder (Pe) 63:30 (Sibole)
