Hoy’s early success in the NWSL is not proof that Ivy League women’s soccer is ready to send the majority of its players to the pros. However, it has shown once again that making the jump from the Ancient 8 to professional ranks is a possibility.

Now that the dust has settled and the initial shock of Penn football’s baffling 27-0 loss to Brown on Saturday has worn off, something has become abundantly clear about the 2013 Quakers. They have a bad case of narcolepsy. Penn has earned four wins this year, each of them nearly marred by a stretch where the team has suddenly, inexplicably forgotten how to play winning football.

The men and women of Penn cross country both finished in sixth place at Saturday’s Heptagonal Championships — the Ivy League’s de facto championship meet — in Princeton.

The Quakers ended their five-game home stand with four consecutive wins, including a five-set win over Cornell on Friday and a three-set win against Columbia on Saturday.

The Quakers hit the road to take on their conference rival Brown Bears, and Penn emerged victorious by a final score of 1-0.

The Quakers came up short in a wild game in Providence, falling to Brown, 2-1, in double overtime and losing sole possession of first place in the Ivy League.

The win over Brown keeps the Quakers (13-3, 5-1 Ivy) just a game behind first place in the Ancient Eight, setting up a winner-take-all matchup with first-place Princeton next weekend.

At no point during Brown’s 27-0 blanking of Penn Saturday did the Quakers look like an Ivy championship football team. Or even a competent one.

Penn took on Navy after their originally scheduled matchup was cancelled due to the government shutdown earlier in the season. The Midshipmen punished Penn on the ground, racking up four rushing touchdowns en route to a 35-14 victory over the Quakers.

Nearly a month after defeating Cornell in five sets in Ithaca, the Quakers found themselves in a similar back and forth affair. Once again, Penn prevailed taking a five-set victory over the Big Red.

With a crucial homecoming weekend game looming against rival Princeton next week, the Red and Blue (4-2, 3-0 Ivy) hit the road on Saturday to take on Brown, a feisty team that pushed Penn to the brink a season ago.

Next Monday, the pages of Sports Illustrated will contain a face very familiar to Penn field hockey: Jasmine Cole.

Currently sitting in a two-way tie for third with Brown, the Quakers want to use tactics that worked last weekend to knock off fifth-place Cornell and Columbia this weekend at the Palestra.

Penn’s cross country runners might be young, but they know their history. And they know full well how important it is to succeed at Saturday’s Heptagonal Championships at Princeton, an Ivy tradition since 1934.

This weekend, Penn (6-7-1, 3-0-1 Ivy) travels to Providence to take on the Bears. The last four matchups between the two schools have resulted in a 1-0 score with two going to the Quakers and two to Brown.

With the stands packed with family, Sunny Stirewalt delivered a performance to remember.

For a sport that delivers the same aspects of competition, physicality and mental prowess as football, it’s a wonder why rugby hasn’t taken off in the United States.