With four seconds remaining on the game clock, the Quakers found a way to defeat the team that knocked them out of title contention last season.
Exactly one year ago from Sunday, the women’s soccer team’s 2-0 loss in the Ivy League opener against Harvard cost the Red and Blue an Ancient Eight title and an automatic NCAA Tournament bid at the end of the season.
This time around, a last-second goal — the only goal of the game — gave Penn (4-4, 1-0 Ivy) its revenge over the Crimson (3-3-1, 0-1 Ivy).
For most of the game, both teams neutralized each other. But right before the buzzer, sophomore Kaitlyn Moore scored a header on a perfectly-placed corner by fellow defender Brianna Rano.
“With the seconds winding down … [Rano] just spun her butt off to get to the corner and put in a beautiful ball that I just kind of sat and waited for,” Moore said.
The Quakers had seven shots on goal compared to only one for Harvard, which stayed in the game thanks to stellar play by goalkeeper Bethany Kanten — until Moore’s game-winner and first collegiate goal.
“We definitely relied on our defense, just because we couldn’t put our possessions together,” Moore said. “But still we ground it out and made it happen.”
Overall, the Quakers’ offensive struggles were the result of both their inability to develop plays and a rock solid effort by Harvard’s defense.
“[The Crimson] sat back in a 4-5-1, they kept 10 players behind the ball,” coach Darren Ambrose said. “In the first half, we were our own worst enemy, we gave the ball to them and they just came in waves right at us.”
Nonetheless, the Quakers managed to squeeze out the victory, thanks to excellent play by the Red and Blue’s back four, especially in tackling and coverage.
“I thought our defending today was fantastic,” Ambrose said after Friday’s game. “I don’t think [goalkeeper Sarah Banks] had to make a real save, and that says a lot.”
Even though his team had scored a convincing win against last season’s Ivy champions, Ambrose warned against making any early assumptions.
“We didn’t win the league tonight,” he said. “We won a very big game against a big rival, and I thought we deserved it on the balance of the game.”
In order to win the Ancient Eight, the team has to improve, especially its attack.
This was apparent in the Quakers’ 1-0 loss to out-of-conference opponent Boise State on Sunday.
Despite being outshot, 10-2, in the second half, the Broncos (5-6-1) won thanks to a long-distance free kick by Katy Oehring in the 54th minute.
And once again, the Quakers struggled to take advantage of their numerous opportunities.
“We’re not generating as many scoring chances as we probably should or could do,” Ambrose said Friday. “We have to possess the ball longer, we’re two passes and done, it’s ‘we get it, we give it and then we knock it’.”
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