More than 20,000 tickets have already been purchased for this year's NCAA Lacrosse Championships at Lincoln Financial Field, despite the fact that no one knows which four teams will be playing.
But one thing is for sure: The host school will not be among them.
With its heartbreaking double-overtime loss to Princeton yesterday afternoon, the Quakers were eliminated from Ivy League title contention after just four league games -- it was the earliest possible date that could have happened -- and are already guaranteed to finish with their worst record under head coach Brian Voelker.
And while the Red and Blue will attempt to find some way to stop their seven-game skid, it will definitely not be an easy task for this team in transition.
Yes, the Quakers lost two honorable mention All-Americans last year -- attacker Will Phillips and goalie Ryan Kelly.
But in the Ivy League -- arguably the toughest conference in collegiate lacrosse -- there is little room for error when you constantly play the best in the nation.
Unfortunately, the Quakers are going to realize that the hard way this year.
While Princeton has won the last 10 Ivy championships and has defeated Penn the last 16 times the teams have faced off, the fact remains that yesterday was the Quakers' best chance to end their losing streak.
After opening their season with five straight losses, the Tigers needed to win the game just as badly as Penn did.
But Princeton sure didn't play like it, and the Quakers had numerous chances to pull out the victory.
The Tigers played sloppily at points during the game, giving up an uncharacteristic 15 turnovers on the day.
But the Quakers were right behind them with 14 turnovers, and they missed key opportunities to put the game away during the extra sessions.
Less than a minute into the first overtime, junior Luke Dixson intercepted a pass in front of the Princeton net but his shot sailed wide.
Junior D.J. Andrzejewski, who was held scoreless by the Tigers, was unable to get even one shot off in overtime -- when Penn needed it the most.
And when Princeton's Jason Doneger ended one of the most competitive Penn-Princeton games in the last decade with his game-winning goal, the Quakers had let a momentous victory slip away.
After the game, Voelker noted that the team put forth a great effort, with the only problem being their inability to score the one goal that was the most important.
Voelker added that he was extremely proud of his team for battling back from a two-goal deficit in the second half.
"With our record, our guys could have easily rolled over ... especially against a Princeton team that we haven't beaten in a long, long time," Voelker said.
But that record might not get any better. In fact, there's a good chance it could get worse.
The Quakers have four more games remaining on their schedule, three of which are against ranked teams -- No. 6 Maryland, No. 12 Dartmouth and No. 16 Brown.
And their fourth opponent, Loyola (Md.), is currently on a four-game winning streak.
While three out of those games will be at Franklin Field, that might not even be much of an advantage. The referees made questionable calls against Penn yesterday that led to an unsportsmanlike penalty called on the Quakers' bench.
"I'm not really sure if we had the home field today," Voelker said. "I thought today we could have gotten some calls go our way ... but that's life."
Voelker struggled to explain what exactly motivates the Quakers to continue battling without getting results in the win column.
"We're a pretty positive coaching staff," Voelker said. "I don't know why they come out and play hard every day, but they've done it. And as a coach, I'm proud of them for doing it."
Given the strength of their last four opponents, the Quakers might need whatever their source of inspiration is to last them for the rest of the season.
Michael Gertner is a junior biological basis of behavior major from Bellmore, N.Y. His e-mail address ismgertner@sas.upenn.edu.
