The Penn field hockey team ended its most satisfying season in years in a most decidedly unsatisfactory manner.
The Quakers (6-11, 4-3 Ivy League) lost to Harvard, 3-0, in Boston yesterday afternoon to end a roller coaster season in fourth place in the Ancient Eight.
Penn started the season 0-5 in out-of-conference action before spending much of the year in first or second in the Ivy League standings.
The Quakers fell, 6-1, in their showdown for first place on Friday against Princeton -- who clinched their eighth straight Ivy crown -- before losing its season finale yesterday. Harvard (11-6, 5-2) and Dartmouth share second place in the Ancient Eight.
In a match that Harvard statistically dominated throughout, the Quakers managed to hang tight due to the strong team defense that has been their trademark all season.
Despite being outshot, 6-3, and allowing four penalty corners to the Crimson's three, Penn only trailed, 1-0, at the half.
Harvard senior Katie Turck notched the only tally of the first half on a penalty corner at 27:45. She pushed the ball into play, then knocked Shelly Massdorp's shot past Penn sophomore goaltender Carrie Wilhelm for her first goal of the season.
After halftime, the Quakers could not get any offense generated. Penn was held without a shot for the entire second half by the Crimson's stifling defense.
While Harvard prevented Penn from getting its offense started, it had little trouble producing on its own. The Crimson generated 10 shots in the half and two goals.
With 24:34 remaining in the second half, Harvard's Kate Gannon took a Jenn Ahn pass and shot it in for her sixth goal of the season.
The Crimson ended any hopes of a Penn comeback with a strong passing sequence that ended with Elizabeth Andrews notching her third goal of the year.
It started when Harvard's Katie Scott hit Diana Bowen with a pass deep in the Penn zone and Bowen set up Andrews for the clincher.
Despite ending the season on two consecutive tough losses, the positives the Quakers can take away from this season far outweigh the negatives.
Following last season's winless Ivy League campaign, Penn coach Val Cloud said her preseason goal was to finish above .500 in the conference.
That goal was accomplished in dramatic fashion, as the team notched four one-goal Ivy victories.
Three of those nailbiting victories were provided by top scorer Kylee Jakobowski's late-game heroics. The junior midfielder scored three game-winners in overtime.
Penn has a solid foundation in place for next year with its leading scorer and top goalie returning in Jakobowski and Wilhelm.
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