So close, yet so far away: the highlights of Penn women's soccer in 2012

5. Overtime victory provides sunny end to West Coast tour

Thanks to a three-game slide, it seemed not even California’s balmy weather could brighten the increasingly bleak outlook for the Red and Blue’s season. Just two days after a hard-fought 1-0 loss to California, then-freshman Erin Mikolai helped salvage the trip with a goal in double overtime to defeat Sacramento State, putting Penn back on track just in time for Ivy League play to start.

4. Scalora buries third game-winner against Columbia

Forward Kerry Scalora not only led the Quakers in goal scoring in 2012, but she did it in a timely fashion. Three of Scalora’s four scores were game-winners, and none was more impressive — or crucial — than her goal in the 67th minute against Columbia. In a game locked at 0-0, Scalora took matters into her own hands when she declined to cross the ball, opting instead to rocket a shot past the keeper and into the back of the net from a nearly impossible angle. The goal gave the Quakers a 1-0 victory, as Scalora notched her third game-winner in seven Penn wins.

3. Inspired play from Midgley electrifies Roberts Stadium, Quakers go down fighting

It was the game for which Penn had played its entire season — a win against Princeton, on its own turf, would give the Red and Blue a share of the Ivy League title. Yet early in the second half, the Quakers found themselves down, 3-0. Princeton seemed in complete control, and the lead appeared insurmountable — that is, until sophomore Clara Midgley scored her first two goals of the season in nine minutes, cutting the Tigers’ lead to just one. Princeton’s Caitlin Blosser sealed the game for good by scoring in the 84th minute. But no span that season matched the electricity in the air following Midgley’s second goal, a 10-minute period in which the sophomore made everyone in Roberts Stadium believe a Penn comeback was not only possible, but perhaps probable.

2. York snaps scoreless streak, Quakers’ championship dreams remain intact

No player hopes for a scoring drought, but it’s hard to rival the elation of snapping a long one with a big goal. In sudden-death overtime against Brown, Megan York overcame her sophomore slump by scoring for the first time in 17 games and keeping the Quakers’ Ivy title hopes alive with a 1-0 victory over the Bears.

1. Quakers strike exact revenge against Harvard with 3.9 seconds remaining

The ball goes out of bounds, Kerry Scalora drops the ball behind her and the Quakers line up for a corner. Standard operating procedure, right? Except virtually nothing is standard about a scoring opportunity with 21 seconds left, in a game knotted at 0-0 against a Crimson team that a year ago spoiled what could otherwise be considered the best season in Penn women’s soccer history. Everyone looking on at Rhodes Field, including coach Darren Ambrose, can only think one thing: They’re not going to get this corner off in time. But the Quakers politely disagree on this point, and Brianna Rano manages to sprint from her position at right back to the left corner and lace a beautiful service into the goal box. Kaitlyn Moore, in beyond perfect position, heads the ball into the far corner of the goal with 3.9 seconds remaining and hands the Crimson a 1-0 loss in its Ivy opener. This moment deserves the top spot because, no matter how many times you watch the highlight, it always comes as a surprise that this play, amidst all the chaos, works so perfectly.

SEE ALSO

Kasper | Offense will define Penn women’s soccer’s season

Beginning of a new era for Penn women’s soccer’s defense

Will Penn women’s soccer’s midfielders fill a Beck-sized hole?

The goal? More goals, finishing from the start for Penn women’s soccer

Family ties bind Red and Blue’s up-and-coming Kaitlyn Moore

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