Roundtable: Is Penn women's soccer still in Ivy contention?

With Penn women's soccer facing Brown on Saturday and Princeton a week later, there is little room for error as Penn tries to compete for the Ivy title. Our women's soccer beats debate whether Penn still has a chance at the conference crown.

Senior Sports Editor Mike Tony: Unfortunately for the Quakers, they blew their chance at a share of the Ivy crown way back on Sept. 27 when they lost at Harvard, 2-1. The Crimson’s Margaret Purce, Karly Zlatic, Elizabeth Weisman and Marie Margolius hold the top four slots individually in points per game and have led the team to 19 goals in just five Ivy contests, easily the best mark in the conference. With that kind of offensive firepower, Harvard’s one-game lead in league play should definitely hold up against its final two Ivy opponents, Dartmouth and Columbia. I don’t see the Big Green stealing one on the road at Harvard, and I definitely don’t see the Lions picking up their first Ivy win of the season against Harvard in both teams’ season finale.

It’s really not much different than when Penn went 14-2-1 in 2011 and still lost the Ivy title to Harvard because the Crimson handed them their sole league loss. History will repeat itself in these next two weeks.

Staff Writer Todd Costa: After salvaging an emotional game against Yale on Saturday with a 1-1 tie on a penalty kick in the waning seconds of regulation, the Quakers must refocus if they hope to have a small chance of winning the Ivy League title.

After the tie, Penn finds itself tied for second place with Brown at 3-1-1 in conference play behind the dominant Crimson, which sits at 5-0-0. Penn will therefore need to take care of business with its own schedule and get a ton of help from Harvard in order to have a chance of taking the top spot at the end of the season.

If the team can keep this spirit over the next few games, it will make for an interesting race to the finish for the Ivy League title, though the Quakers will need a minor miracle to finish in the top spot.

Senior Staff Writer Kenny Kasper: Put simply, no. It's difficult to even conjure up a metaphor for how improbable it would be for Harvard to lose consecutive games to Dartmouth and Columbia. Clearly, the Big Green are the more potent challenger, but they have struggled mightily on the road, which pretty much rules out an upset in Boston. Even if Dartmouth pulled off the upset, Harvard would have to give away sole possession of the Ivy title with a tie to Columbia, a squad that has yet to register a win in conference play. Like Princeton last season, the Crimson have been in a class of their own this year. The parity just doesn't exist in the conference this season for a squad with one loss and one tie to walk away with a share of the league championship.

Senior Staff Writer Sushaan Modi: Penn is unbeaten since Sept. 27. It’s officially been a month, and believe it or not, they’re farther from an Ivy title than they have been all season. I must agree with Mike and Todd that the Quakers may not have a league title in sight. That’s a shame considering how well they have played all season, but that’s what happens in a competitive league.

It sucks.

But it also may be to their benefit.

Let me explain. Penn is ranked No. 51 in NCAA Women’s Soccer RPI, and with a 64-team NCAA tournament, has a good shot at an at-large bid. With two games to pad its resume, nothing less than two wins will do. A victory on the road against No. 71 Brown would boost the Quakers’ postseason resume. It’s not every season that the Ivy League has four teams in the top 100, and Penn’s great season makes a strong case for postseason play.

They may not have a chance at the Ivy League title, but they still have a lot to play for.