Penn women's soccer gives itself a chance, tops Princeton, 3-2

For the team that usually doesn’t concede any goals, giving one up just four minutes into their game was the worst possible start.

With an at-large bid in the NCAA tournament on the line, a win, and only a win, would keep the Penn women’s soccer team in contention. Dealing with the emotions of senior night, the Red and Blue overcame their sluggish first half and stepped up the pace in the second. 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.

But it wasn’t an easy fight.

The Quakers struggled to keep possession in the first half and couldn’t contain Princeton’s Gabriella Guzman in the center of the park.

“I thought we were terrible in the first half,” Ambrose said. “I just don’t think we played well. The emotion of senior day is difficult to overcome … and the emotion gets the better of players. We were on our heels.

The Tigers’ attack found space behind the Quakers defense and Princeton forward Tyler Lussi continually caused problems, including the first goal she turned in with a fourth-minute half-volley.

“We made a change after about 25 minutes in the system, and we had a couple of changes because we were struggling in midfield,” Ambrose said. “We went from three in the middle to four, and that’s what stopped them because Gabby Guzman’s a great player and she was killing us. We knew if we could put her under pressure and pick off more balls in the midfield … we knew if we got it out of the backline we could create chances.”

Penn pulled one back before the first half after a cleared corner kick was played back to Erin Mikolai in space along the sideline. Mikolai rounded Princeton keeper Darcy Hargadon, leaving her caught out of position and slotted the ball to Clara Midgley, who coolly finished to tie the game at one.

The second half saw the Quakers refreshed and full of purpose. They finally made the breakthrough in the 65th minute, when an incoming cross was punched only as far as the edge of the 18-yard box. The ball found its way to Mikolai and her half-volley put Penn ahead for good.

“I was just like, ‘I want to get this on frame,’” Mikolai said. “Any kind of opportunity that would give us a chance at scoring.

“In the second half our defense stepped up more and our midfield was more packed…and it clearly worked.”

Penn tacked on one more just a minute and a half later as a harmless clearance by Tahirih Nesmith was not dealt with properly by Princeton defenders. Senior forward Kathryn Barth ran on to it and made no mistake about increasing the Quakers’ advantage.

“The defenders misread it and I just kept running,” Barth said. “Darren always tells us to take a chance, and I did take a chance … and it was definitely nice to have some kind of security in the last 20 minutes.”

The Quakers didn’t let up and should have had a fourth goal just 10 minutes later when Claire Midgley’s shot was cleared off the line as was Megan York’s header on the rebound. Appeals for a hand ball were well-founded but waved off by the referee.

Princeton did score in the waning moments of the game with Lussi on the mark once again, but it was little more than a consolation.

The win means the Quakers must wait until Monday’s NCAA Tournament Selection Show to find if they will play one more game. With a rating performance index of 43 in the entire country and now a win over the Tigers – a top-100 RPI team – Penn has a good opportunity to make the tournament.

But the Quakers will be fighting an uphill battle. No other team in Ivy history has ever gained an at-large bid.

Nevertheless, Penn did what it needed to on Saturday night and now will have to wait it out.

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