Though they didn't get in automatically as they had for the past four years, Penn received an at-large twelfth-seed bid into the NCAA tournament Sunday night, and will face No. 5 Duke in the first round in Durham, N.C., 2 p.m. next Sunday.
"The initial reaction was, 'oh, we're playing Duke again,'" said senior midfield Giulia Giordano. "I think everyone was pretty excited about it... I think that we are feeling pretty confident."
Penn's season ended abruptly Friday after Princeton took out the host Quakers, 10-8, in overtime in the opening round of the Ivy League tournament. But the Quakers' resume was enough to get them into the NCAA bracket, as determined by the selection committee.
That resume includes an upset of then-No. 4 Duke last Friday at Drexel's Vidas Field. In one of Penn's most complete victories of the season, the Quakers (11-5, 6-1 Ivy) used an early second-half run to surge past the Blue Devils (13-4) for a 13-10 win. Giordano said there were mixed feelings on the team as to whether Penn would be given a bid.
"You just never know until your name gets up there, so we're excited we're going," coach Karin Brower Corbett said. Penn or Duke will face the winner of Florida-Stanford in the second round.
Additionally, Princeton — the Ivy League tournament champion — and co-title winner Dartmouth are headed to the tournament, playing James Madison and Albany, respectively.
This is Penn's fifth consecutive tournament appearance.
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