Twice already this year, the Penn field hockey team has been able to battle back from an early deficit to win, against local rivals Villanova and St. Joseph's.
But the Quakers were unable to overcome two first-half goals by Virginia on Saturday, losing 2-1 to drop the team to 5-6 overall.
The loss came despite a fierce second-half effort that kept the game in reach.
Assistant coach Jeremy Cook focused on the team's stronger points in what he described as a "very back and forth game."
"We had quite a few more chances to score," Cook said.
"We put a ton of pressure on them in the second half."
Penn fell behind early when junior Mia Link and senior Allie Flynn scored within five minutes of each other to give the Cavaliers a 2-0 lead.
The Quakers managed only three shots to Virginia's nine. Penn did, however, manage to get on the board midway through the second half.
Senior midfielder and co-captain Kristen Gray scored her third goal of the year off a penalty corner with 13 minutes remaining. She had help on the play from teammates Tracy Statter and Meghan Rose.
Gray said that her teammates executed the shot perfectly, even though the Quakers have struggled with short corners throughout the year.
"We made changes from the first half that we were making errors on," she said.
"It was a very competitive game."
The Penn forwards pressured the Cavs' defense for the remainder of the game but were unable to score again.
The team seemed optimistic about its defensive play in the second half.
"We got a lot of contributions from our younger players," Cook said. "This was the best game played by our outside defenders so far."
"Our team defense improved a lot" over the course of the game, Gray added.
This defeat put the Quakers under .500 for the first time since losing to No. 2 Maryland on Sept. 21.
Penn's next matchup will be against Monmouth on Wednesday at Franklin field. It is one of the team's two remaining out-of-conference games.
After Wednesday, the Quakers will play five more games, four of which are Ancient Eight contests.
The Quakers' last game is at home against Princeton homecoming weekend. The Tigers are the only team still undefeated in Ivy League play.
PENN 0 1 -- 1Virginia 2 0 -- 2
Scoring: 1st Half: 1, Virginia, Flynn 5 (Phillips) 22:29; 2, Virginia, Link 5, 26:51.
2nd Half: 3, PENN, Gray 3 (Statter, Rose) 57:08.
