Tomorrow evening, the Penn women's soccer team will step onto Rhodes Field for the final time this season. For the team's seven seniors, it will be the last time ever.
Handkerchief please.
Indeed, when the Quakers (8-4-3, 2-1-2 Ivy) take on Brown (5-6-4, 1-3-1) at 5 p.m. on Saturday, they may have to worry about more precipitation than just the rain.
"It's sad," said senior forward Molly Weir, who is second on the team in total points and tied for second in goals. "It's weird to think that it's going to be our last home game ever."
Weird or not, the fourth-place Red and Blue will need to find a way to win if they entertain any hopes of a repeat Ivy League title. A loss would eliminate them from conference contention.
But they know what they need to do. Persistence is the name of the game for the Quakers and head coach Darren Ambrose.
"You keep knocking on the door like we have done, you will get goals," Ambrose said.
Despite Brown's recent troubles - it has have been outscored, 5-0, over its past two games, both Ivy losses - the Quakers aren't overconfident that their knock will be answered.
In truth, the Bears' paltry record belies the threat they present. They netted an impressive win over then-No. 11 Penn State in September and have tied then-No. 1 UCLA and Ivy League-leading Princeton.
Saying goodbye to a senior class that helped lead the team to an Ivy League championship last season, the Quakers probably don't need much extra motivation.
But it certainly won't hurt that the Bears put the only blemish on Penn's conference record last year, a 1-0 double-overtime loss in Providence, R.I.
"We really want to come out hard and go out with a bang, all of the seniors," Weir said.
Few are more deserving of that grand exit than Weir and senior captain Natalie Capuano, who has a team-best five goals.
Consequently, Capuano and Weir may find it more difficult than most to say goodbye for the last time.
"We have thought . 'Oh [the final home game] is out there, it's coming some day,'" Weir said. "But now it's actually here."
No one knows this bittersweet farewell better than Ambrose.
"It's the most rewarding and saddest part of your job."
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