Seamus Powers

The 2014 Penn Relays had everything you could ask for: dramatic finishes, record setting performances and a number of impressive victories by the hosts.

The stakes are rising for Penn women’s lacrosse. Winners of eight consecutive Ivy League regular season titles, the resilient Quakers will face Princeton on Wednesday in a battle of Ivy League unbeatens, one that will likely determine the host of next month's Ivy League Tournament.

In search of a signature nonconference win against No. 6 Northwestern, No. 11 Penn women’s lacrosse encountered a painfully familiar result. After trailing by as many as four in the first half, the Red and Blue could not capitalize on an epic comeback, falling to the Wildcats, 9-8, in overtime on Sunday, marking the squad’s ninth consecutive loss to Northwestern. Junior midfield Kaleigh Craig scored the winner for Northwestern (8-3) with 13 seconds remaining in overtime to hand Penn (9-2) its second loss of the season, both against teams ranked in the top six.

Penn baseball is heating up at just the right time. After struggling early on in nonconference play, the Quakers (4-8) look to extend their three-game winning streak as the squad prepares for the start of Ivy League play this weekend when it hosts a pair of doubleheaders against Harvard and Dartmouth. One of the team's bright spots through a dozen contests, Penn’s formidable pitching staff will be put to the test on Saturday against the Crimson (10-8), who have posted at least eight runs in five of their last six games. Senior captain Connor Cuff is set to start the opener on Saturday, while sophomore southpaw Mike Reitcheck is expected to get the nod in game two. Cuff has been rounding into form recently – the 2014 first-team All-Ivy selection boasts an ERA of 1.00 and is coming off an impressive complete game victory over Lafayette on Sunday.

Austin Bossart is hoping the fourth time’s a charm. Through three years as the Red and Blue’s starting catcher, Bossart has enjoyed one of the most impressive careers in recent Penn history, but he is eager to get his hands on a championship this final time around. Both an offensive and defensive stalwart, Bossart was integral to the Quakers’ impressive run last season, which ended abruptly with a playoff loss to Columbia. Several preseason changes were critical to Bossart’s contributions to a surprisingly successful Penn season in 2014. For one, Bossart jumped from the six-spot in the lineup to the two-hole and didn’t miss a beat. The O’Fallon, Illinois, native improved his on base percentage to a team-leading .397, batted a solid .297 and finished second in the club in both hits (47) and runs (29). Those numbers alone were worthy of Bossart’s first-team All-Ivy selection, but the job he did behind the plate was just as impressive. The Penn pitching staff pieced together stellar outing after stellar outing last season.

The Red and Blue held off Dartmouth, 58-51, on Friday night at the Palestra to mark their second-straight tight victory.

With Ivy League play looming, the Quakers (4-9, 0-1 Ivy) look to continue their success against MAAC teams - they are 2-1 this season with wins over Marist and Niagara - with Wednesday's game against Monmouth (9-9).

Against a more experienced and talented Lafayette squad that was hot from the start, Penn made an impressive comeback effort that put its full potential on display despite ultimately falling short, 83-77.

It sure would have been nice to send off the program’s winningest coach with another victory in his final game at Franklin Field, but Penn football showed a lot to be proud of in its loss to Harvard.

While Saturday will be all about Al Bagnoli, who will be coaching for the last time at Franklin field, the coach on the opposite sideline deserves his fair share of recognition.