With an 11-game winning streak, a No. 2 national ranking, and only one loss this year - to No. 1 Northwestern - women's lacrosse coach Karin Brower hoped for a top-three seed in the NCAA Tournament.
She didn't get it.
The Quakers (14-1), relegated to a four-seed, will take on unseeded Boston University (13-5) Sunday at home in the first round of this year's Tournament.
"I understand why they seeded us four," Brower said, "because strength of schedule is a part of it. The ACC teams get a higher strength of schedule because they have a conference tournament so they play each other twice. It's frustrating and a little surprising. But at least we got a top four seed."
The No. 2 seed team in the Tournament, Duke, is sixth in the ranking, while third-seeded Virginia is No. 3.
But for a team that hasn't made the field of 16 since 1984, when they were drubbed 18-1 by Delaware, the Quakers aren't completely put off.
"We're happy with our seed," senior tri-captain Chrissy Muller said. "We were hoping for a top-four seed since we wanted home-field advantage and everything that comes with a top-four seed."
A top-eight seed only guarantees a first-round home game, whereas a top-four seed guarantees home-field advantage for both the first and second rounds.
"Just having home-field advantage this weekend is going to be great for us," senior tri-captain Karen Jann said. "It's something we've sort of been shooting for all year long."
Furthermore, if the Quakers were to beat the Terriers and then the winner of the Maryland-Yale first-round game, the team would still get home field in the semifinals, since Penn will be host the Final Four at Franklin Field.
However, the first-round game will not take place at Franklin Field because of graduation festivities. Instead, it will be at Rhodes Field, Penn's soccer stadium.
This will pose something of a challenge to the teams, since the stadium is grass, unlike Franklin Field's Sprinturf surface.
Playing on grass "definitely will be a challenge," Brower said. "We're not a grass team; luckily BU isn't a grass team either. . We have to work on ground balls since they sort of just die in the grass. Since they're not a grass team it evens us out, so we're both at a disadvantage."
Regardless of playing surface, the Terriers themselves provide an obstacle.
"They're a fast and strong team," Brower said. "They have a lot of scorers and points, so there's a lot of people to worry about on their attack. We're going to have to play good, balanced team defense."
BU has five players who average over two points a game, whereas the Quakers only have four such players.
"Attack-wise we're pretty balanced, so I need all seven attackers to show up," said BU coach Liz Robertshaw.
She also pointed to Penn's "solid" attack, saying that her squad will have to slow the Quakers' attackers down in order to be successful.
The game is one of two first-round games to showcase two league champions, as BU won its third consecutive America East Conference title this season. In addition, the game will feature two of the nation's longest winning streaks, as the Quakers have won 11 in a row since their loss at No. 1 Northwestern, while BU has a nine-game run.
Penn might have a chance to avenge that solitary loss against the Wildcats in the semifinals.
But come Tournament time, the only win streak that matters is the four-game one needed to win the national championship.
