Soisson | The odds are in my favor

This was a great year for Penn women’s sports. Am I right, ladies? Am I right?

The penny slots were successful — I’ll credit my grandmother, who was known to win hundreds of dollars at a time on these games, for the lucky genes — and I went a respectable 3-for-5 on my predictions from earlier this fall.

That’s a heck of a lot better than last’s years picks by Brian Kotloff, who went 3-for-9. It’s just too bad I didn’t make any more predictions back in September. I definitely would have called “Penn fencer will win national championship,” and “John Cole will be out as baseball manager.”

Anyone up for a post-graduation trip to Atlantic City with me?

1. Football will play for the Ivy championship on Nov. 17 at Cornell.

Nailed it, though I’ll admit this was a pretty safe prediction. I believed the battle would be between Penn and Cornell, but turns out it was a week ahead between Penn and Harvard.

Still, the Quakers did play for the outright Ivy championship that day, and they won. So did I.

2. Women’s soccer will make the NCAA tournament.

A disappointing loss to Dartmouth in Hanover put a wrench in Penn’s plans to win the league, though an end-of-season win over Princeton could have sealed the deal.

Unfortunately for the Quakers, Tigers midfield Lauren Lazo spoiled any hopes for Penn as she scored three times in Princeton’s 4-2 win.

I’ll count this as a loss for me, but the good news? Princeton lost its first game of the NCAA tournament.

3. Men’s basketball will finish third in the Ivy League.

I was right there with this prediction for a good bit of the season. But a home loss to Dartmouth and another to Yale on the road set the Quakers back into fifth place.

The point of that prediction was to say I’d leave Penn without seeing the Red and Blue in the NCAA Tournament. So we all lose.

4. Women’s basketball will post a .500 record overall and in league play.

We had to make the prediction twice for it to come to fruition, but it was well worth the wait. The Quakers finished 18-13 overall and 9-5 in the Ivy League.

Also, double the prize for anyone who predicted that Penn would hold a lead over the top team in the league, Princeton.

I think next year’s prediction on this team will have them finishing a little higher than .500.

5. The women outperform the men.

Just last weekend, we saw the softball team and the women’s lacrosse team win Ivy titles (though lacrosse already had theirs in the bag) and get automatic NCAA Tournament bids.

The gymnastics team didn’t win the Ivy Classic, but they won ECACs for the second straight year.

On the men’s side, the football team brought home its third Ivy championship in four years. That’s not quite enough to pull ahead of the Lady Quakers.

Girls, you win.

Which means I win too.

Sixty percent odds aren’t too bad, especially in the penny slots.
_
Megan Soisson is former senior sports editor of the Daily Pennsylvanian from Mechanicsburg, Pa. After graduating, she will be working for MLB Advanced Media._

SEE ALSO

Kotloff | Batting .333 may be good for baseball, but not for predictions

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.