Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign might have come to a close on Tuesday, but for the women’s soccer team, a long-fought season won’t end until Saturday night’s campaign at Brown. While the season might not have turned out the way the Bulldogs wanted, there will still be plenty to play for against the Bears.

Ranked as the preseason favorite for the Ivy title, Yale (8-6-2, 2-3-1 Ivy) got off to a rocky start against Princeton in its Ivy season opener. It was a game that Yale dominated, but was simply unable to close out with a win. That unfortunate turn of events seemed to dampen the Elis’ momentum for the rest of the season.

The next weekend, the Bulldogs lost to Harvard and have been in a do-or-die situation ever since. After finding success over the course of the following few weeks, the game against Columbia last week on Senior Night determined whether Yale would still be in the Ivy race. Playing with an enthusiastic home crowd behind them and a sense of purpose for the graduating seniors, the Bulldogs played a completely dominant game. Yet once again, the effort resulted in an undeserved loss and knocked the Elis out of the Ivy League title race.

“Our seniors have been awesome leaders this year, and to lose it on their senior night — that’s what hurts the most,” defender Hannah Smith ’10 said.

But against the Bears (6-6-4, 2-3-1), Yale will try to avenge that loss. The Bulldogs have already clinched their seventh consecutive winning season, but a win against Brown will also guarantee a finish in the top half of the league. With emotions running high and so much on the line, the Elis will be fired up, and the game is sure to be a good one.

“Us four seniors, we don’t want to end our careers on a loss,” defender Natalia Mann ’09 said. “We will definitely be going our hardest to get our final win.”