There’s something in the psyche of the athlete that’s unleashed when the rain starts falling, the sun disappears, the temperature plummets, and the field lights illuminate puffs of breath from red-faced players.

With the final exam looming, Penn men’s soccer gets one more practice test. On Tuesday, the Quakers will play host to West Virginia in their final non-conference tilt of the year.

After conceding four goals to both Villanova and Dartmouth during a three-game losing skid, Penn men’s soccer righted the ship on Saturday against Yale. The Quakers (4-4-5, 2-2 Ivy) blanked the Bulldogs (2-7-2, 1-2-1 Ivy) by a score of 3-0 on goals from Dami Omitaomu, Gideon Metrikin and Alec Neumann.

Looking to play spoiler to Penn’s championship pursuit, Chestnut Hill came ready to throw everything they had at the Quakers.

For the second straight game, the Quakers (9-5, 3-2 Ivy) overcame a 2-0 deficit to take the game past regulation only to fall to an overtime winner and be sent home with a loss.

Forget about home-field advantage. On the road is where Penn women’s soccer thrives, extending their unbeaten stretch to 4-1-0 while traveling.

Volleyball is all about working in system to get opponents out of system. For Penn volleyball, new changes to their system had mixed reviews against an unflappable Princeton squad. On Friday evening, Penn lost a tough straight-set match to Ivy League-leading Princeton.

On Saturday, both Penn basketball programs offered a glimpse into their state of affairs with the annual Red and Blue Scrimmages at the Palestra.

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — It was a beautiful night for football, but it was not a beautiful game of football.

They say the best team doesn’t always win. They were right. They also say that the scoreboard doesn’t tell the whole story.

Three road games, two home games and a potential Ivy title. That’s all that’s left for Penn football as it moves into the second half of the 2016 campaign. First up on that list is Yale.

For Penn sprint football, the hard part is over, but the job is far from done. And that job continues this Friday when the Quakers (4-0) face off against Chestnut Hill (2-2) at Franklin Field. Regardless of what happens Friday, it will be hard for Penn to top the drama the last time they played in Franklin Field.

Penn is locked in for its last crucial stretch of the season. Penn (9-4, 3-1 Ivy) is looking forward to the final week of Ivy League play, with upcoming matchups against Yale (5-8,1-3), Brown (6-6, 2-2), and Princeton (9-5, 4-0). Penn snapped its three game winning streak, with a tough double overtime loss to eighth nationally ranked Delaware 3-2 on Sunday.

Penn volleyball may be a young team, but they've seen all they need to see. With one trip around the Ivy League complete, the Red and Blue are set to begin the rematches with now more familiar foes, starting with the Ancient Eight's best. On Friday night, Penn (8-11, 3-4 Ivy) will head to New Jersey to take on rival Princeton in their lone game this weekend.

Consistency at the top is the key for any team with hopes for a title. However, for Penn women's soccer, staying consistent within the Ivy League is becoming a challenging task.

A year removed from a fifth-place, 5-9 conference finish, Penn basketball has been tapped to finish fourth in the 2016-17 preseason Ivy League media poll.

The farewell tour. The victory lap. The last hurrah. Whatever you call it, there’s no avoiding the inevitability of retirement in athletics.