While the Quakers surely didn’t win the game because of execution, it wasn’t because of luck either. It was thanks to effort.

Al Bagnoli has become one the most important people in Penn sports and will leave behind a remarkable legacy when he eventually steps away from the game.

The Quakers were headed for another middle of the pack finish as they entered the final game of the first half of the Ivy season against Dartmouth. Penn was 2-4, sitting in a last-place tie with Dartmouth, Cornell and Princeton.

With women’s and men’s soccer, field hockey and football trying to hang onto their postseason hopes and men’s hoops tipping off for the first time all season, our staff followed every high and low point of Homecoming weekend, minute-by-minute.

The Quakers waited to hear their name get called. But they never did, learning that they hadn’t been awarded an NCAA at-large bid and that their season was over.

For sophomore swimmer Chris Swanson, outdoing freshman year will be a much taller order. In addition to setting three school records in the 500, 1000 and 1650 meter freestyle events, Swanson also captured an individual title at the Ivy League Championships in the 1650 freestyle.

Penn (0-1) will look to assuage its rebounding woes as the Quakers travel to New Jersey to take on Monmouth (1-0).

Down 14-12 in a fifth set and facing two match point opportunities for Harvard, Penn women’s volleyball showed the resilience that has made it so dominant over the past few weeks.

Why did Penn basketball even find itself with such a deep hole to come back from in the second half? The answer is Penn’s lack of defensive rebounding against a team it shouldn’t have lost to.

While the Penn men’s soccer senior class was honored before the game kicked off, it was a freshman duo who stole the show to give the Quakers a much-needed victory.

Penn fell to Temple despite taking a lead with less than two minutes left.

Basketball season is back at the Palestra, but for a change, it was Penn women’s basketball that had a chance to lift the curtain on the Cathedral of Basketball for 2013. However, St. Francis (NY) would spoil the Quakers’ first moment on the big stage this season.

Despite high expectations for Penn football heading into 2013, Bob Surace and his Princeton Tigers had their moment in the sun while spoiling Penn’s Homecoming.

In a season where Penn field hockey made a significant leap forward, it could not take the final step.

In its regular season finale, Penn notched two goals in that second half to secure a 3-2 win over arch-rival Princeton, boosting the Quakers’ hopes for postseason play.

In its second match of the season against Dartmouth, Penn volleyball extended its five-game winning streak with a 3-1 victory on the road at Leede Arena, 19-25, 25-20, 25-14, 25-13.

It’s not easy having the kind of year Penn basketball did a season ago, since Penn basketball isn’t supposed to lose. And for Dougherty and Cartwright, there’s one year left to walk proud on campus.