How different Penn Athletics teams fared over Homecoming weekend

While most eyes were focused on Penn football’s thrilling Homecoming victory over Princeton this weekend, more than half a dozen other teams were also in action for Penn Athletics — some playing their last competitions of the year, others playing their first.

Check out what happened for five of those teams in the Homecoming version of the sports weekend roundup. 

Field hockey

In the team’s last game of the season, Penn field hockey came up just short in a 2-1 loss to No. 14 Princeton. While the Quakers’ (9-8, 4-3 Ivy)  season would have been over even if they had won, the loss allowed the Tigers (11-6, 7-0) to secure sole ownership of the Ivy League title. 

The day got off to a promising and fitting start when senior and all-time leading Penn field hockey scorer Alexa Hoover got the Red and Blue on the board in the fourth minute. Penn’s defense held strong for the rest of the first half, but two second half goals propelled Princeton to victory. 

As it was for Hoover, the game also served as the final collegiate appearances for seniors Jasmine Li, Rachel Huang, Gina Guccione, and Liz Mata. 

Volleyball

Hosting the Ivy League’s two New York schools in Penn volleyball’s final home matches of the season, the Quakers gave their seniors a proper Palesta send-off. On Friday, the Red and Blue took down Cornell 3-1 before defeating Columbia 3-2 the next night to give the team its fourth straight victory.

With the wins, Penn (12-9, 7-5 Ivy) stays alive in its unlikely hunt for a shared Ivy championship. The Quakers still do not control their own destiny and will need to sweep on the road next weekend against Dartmouth (8-13, 4-8) and Harvard (12-9, 7-5) to have a chance. 

Swimming and diving

On Saturday, both Penn men’s and women’s swimming and diving travelled to Columbia for their first meets of the season, but only the women left the Big Apple happy. While the men fell to the Lions 198-102, the women won narrowly 152.5-147.5. 

As disappointing as the meet was for the Penn men, freshman Sean Lee impressed in his collegiate debut, finishing first in both butterfly events. On the women’s side, freshman Madison Perry also impressed with two top-place finishes to help the Red and Blue to victory. 

Both teams will be back home next weekend to take on Villanova.

Men’s golf

Playing in its final tournament of the fall, Penn men’s golf finished third at the City Six Championship. Playing at the Union League Golf Club at Torresdale, the Quakers shot a 295 to finish seven strokes behind first-place Drexel.

Senior Carter Thompson, who is also an associate sports editor at The Daily Pennsylvanian, and junior Josh Goldenberg put up particularly strong performances for the Red and Blue. Thompson shot two over par to tie for third overall individually, while Goldenberg finished one stroke behind. Penn’s lineup was rounded out by senior Amay Poria, freshman Mitchell Cornell, junior Zareh Kaloustian, and sophomore Eric Ganshaw.

Women’s soccer

Competing in its final match of the season, Penn women’s soccer fell 1-0 to No. 13 Princeton at Rhodes Field on Saturday. While Princeton’s (14-2, 6-1 Ivy) victory lifted the Tigers to an Ivy League championship, it might’ve been Penn (5-8-3, 3-3-1) sophomore goalie who had the day’s most impressive performance with eight saves. 

The game also marked the end of the collegiate careers of seniors Anna Estep, Erica Higa, Darby Mason, and Kristen Miller. Higa finished her final season with three goals and seven total points to lead the team in scoring.