At the very least, the No. 9 Quakers have seized a share of the Ivy League title and home field advantage for the Ivy tournament. But perhaps most importantly, Penn has gained another shot at defeating Princeton.
Just three days after suffering their first league loss in five years, the Quakers took care of business against the Brown Bears, winning, 12-5, on a rainy, windswept Stevenson Field.
Those three days were not happy ones for the Quakers.
“They were pretty tough,” senior attack Bridget Waclawik admitted. “We watched all the game footage from Princeton. We spent a lot of time critiquing each other and ourselves.”
Coach Karin Brower Corbett made sure the team saw the mistakes from that contest.
“We didn’t play well,” she said. “They needed to learn from that. We really wanted to turn that around for Saturday and still have the opportunity to win the Ivies and [let them know] that this game means everything.”
The term “gut check” gets thrown around the sports world a fair amount, but Saturday’s game was a gut-check game in the truest sense for the Quakers.
After a Waclawik goal opened the scoring, Penn (10-4, 6-1 Ivy) fell behind after three-straight Brown goals.
Then Corbett called a timeout. Along with some weather-related adjustments, the coach had some motivational words for the team.
“She gave us a little bit of a gut check like, ‘Come on guys, step it up, we know we’re better than this team,’” Waclawik said.
Junior attack Erin Brennan was the Quakers’ offensive dynamo, as she has been for much of the season. She netted five of Penn’s 12 total goals.
“She had a tough game on Wednesday, but everybody has a game that’s not as strong,” Corbett said. “She bounced back today, but the whole team bounced back.”
For Brennan, the Brown game was indeed a welcome return to scoring form. Brennan — who averages 2.93 points per game — failed to score or tally an assist in the Princeton loss.
“I definitely didn’t play how I usually do in [the Princeton game],” Brennan said. “That’s obviously disappointing. We needed to focus on shaking off [Wednesday’s loss] and not dwelling on it.”
And shake it off they did.
After Corbett’s well-timed timeout, the Quakers put together a 9-1 run facilitated by strong finishing and transition defense. That stretch, which lasted until the middle of the second half, essentially put the game out of reach for the Bears (6-8, 1-5). Brennan even netted a hat trick before the opening period was over.
With the win, Penn will once again host the Ivy League tournament at Franklin Field. The Quakers have earned the No. 1 seed for the second-straight year, and no one is happier about that than the seniors.
“We’re ecstatic to be playing on Franklin Field again” Waclawik said. “Personally, just to be playing there again as a senior, we didn’t want to feel like we let the team down in our Princeton game.”
The NCAA tournament awaits the Quakers at the end of the season. But before that, on May 6 at Franklin Field, they’ll welcome with open arms the opportunity to play Princeton again — and perhaps return the favor.
