One of the beautiful things about sports is their universality – you don’t have to speak the same language as your opponents to recognize a fantastic play or a well-fought game.

As the Quakers prepare for Senior Night this Saturday against Harvard, it is natural to wonder who will be filling in for graduating seniors Duke Lacroix, Kamar Saint-Louis, Louis Schott, Jason deFaria and Mariano Gonzalez-Guerineau.

A twenty-something Colorado Avalanche fan carried his equipment bag into Penn's Class of 1923 Arena for his weekly Monday open hockey session, only to find out quickly that he would be forced to stay in the stands. The reason? His favorite hockey team was occupying the ice.

The Quakers battled down to the wire with a high-powered Princeton squad, only to drop a heartbreaker, 4-3.

While the freshmen of Penn heavyweight rowing put up a commendable effort, the Rutgers Fall Classic was all about Navy, whose combined heavyweight and lightweight boats edged out the Red and Blue.

In a weekend of debuts — including Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar, which premiered Thursday night — Penn swimming’s opening act at Sheerr Pool may have been the biggest blockbuster of them all.

After matchup with Dartmouth on Friday night that saw Penn handle its Ivy League foe in three sets, the Red and Blue were primed for a matchup against first place Harvard. Despite a strong effort, though, the Quakers fell in five sets.

After a season of ups and down, the Quakers left their heart and soul on the field against their biggest rival, defeating the Tigers, 3-2, in one of the most thrilling and emotional matches of the season.

Penn men’s soccer fell Saturday night to Princeton, 3-2, extending the Quakers’ winless streak to four games. The Quakers, the 2013 Ivy League champions, were eliminated from contention for the Ivy League title with the loss.

Bad calls or not, the Red and Blue had a chance to come into Princeton and deal their biggest rival a season-killing loss on national television. By all accounts, they could have — and should have — won.

After losing consecutive Ivy games to Yale and Brown, the Quakers came to New Jersey with upset on their minds, but came up just short, falling to Princeton, 22-17.

All in all, some miscues in Princeton territory held Penn back as the Quakers fell behind the Tigers in the first half, 19-7, at Princeton Stadium despite forcing their first turnover in almost a month.

Senior weekend started out well for Penn volleyball. The Quakers strung together consecutive Ivy wins for the first time this season as the Red and Blue took down the Dartmouth in straight sets, 25-22, 25-16, 25-21. In the first set, Penn (5-6) leapt to a lead.

As Penn men’s and women’s squash look to soon begin the season, there is just one thought on their minds – improving.

In one of their last stops for the fall season, the heavyweight freshmen of Penn rowing will race this Saturday at the Rutgers Fall Classic Regatta.

With a satisfying victory on Senior Day in the rearview mirror, Penn field hockey will wrap up its 2014 campaign on Saturday when it heads to Princeton to take on its rival in the season finale.

Nothing motivates better then a rivalry, and for Penn swimming, an early season meet against Columbia has the Quakers primed to start the year off fast.