M. Soccer can only try to forget New Haven

The penn men's soccer team was humiliated, 6-1, in a game against Yale on Friday in Connecticut. NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- Coming off of its worst loss of the season, all the Penn men's soccer team (4-10-1, 1-5 Ivy League) can do now is forget about it. The Quakers traveled to New Haven, Conn., to play Ivy contender Yale (9-4-1, 3-1-1 Ivy League) on Friday night. However, they never showed up. Penn fell behind by two goals in the first half, before surrendering four more in the second. With the win, the Elis move into second place in the Ivy standings, just one game behind undefeated Dartmouth. "Everything worked today," Yale coach Brian Tompkins said. "I thought we moved the ball really well. Those two early goals really shifted the momentum our way." With the exception of a 10-minute period early in the second half, the Quakers were outplayed by the host Elis in every facet. Yale applied offensive pressure from the start. Crisp passing and good speed opened up the field for the Elis. "It was a terrific effort on their part," Penn coach George O'Neill said. "In the first half, they just came out and kept running us. We were giving the ball up a lot." The Quakers could only hold off Yale for a short time, as the hosts opened the scoring with a goal with 23 minutes remaining in the first half. Yale senior Andy Ferguson found the back of the net after a cross from the sideline. Just under five minutes later, Yale junior Doug Spelman took a pass from Craig Yacks and put the Elis up, 2-0. The speedy Yacks victimized the Quakers all night. He was either on the giving end or the receiving end of several quick passing plays that developed into breakaways, or resulted in finding teammates in the box for good scoring chances. "We have some really fast guys that are hard to keep in check," Yacks said. "We took advantage by going wide and then getting in behind the Penn defenders. I think we made it really tough for them." Down 2-0 at halftime, the Quakers came out gunning in the second half, having taken only one shot in the first half. Just over a minute into the half, Penn junior Matt Heubner out-jumped Yale goalie Sam Powers for the ball. Heubner headed the ball into the empty net from the cross from sophomore Ted Lehman. It was Penn's second shot, and its last. "We got the goal, then had some good chances where we might have scored," O'Neill said. "I thought we had the better of the play for that period of time. Their third goal changed the momentum right back in their favor." The Quakers regained the momentum of the game after Heubner drew the Quakers within one, and followed the goal with several good opportunities deep in the Yale box. Instead of capitalizing on those chances, the Quakers gave up a quick goal just five minutes later. Junior Mario Iveljic's cross from the wing was knocked in by Yale's Phil Harris. "Our third goal was the backbreaker," Tompkins said. "It shifted the momentum back in our favor for good. They tried to come at us in the second half, but everything we touched turned to gold tonight. It was a good win for us." Rain began to fall early in the second half, and picked up intensity as the game progressed. The driving rain turned the field into a giant Slip-'N-Slide, as players had trouble with their footing and controlling the ball. As the skies opened, so did the scoring for the Elis. With the rain coming down hard, the Red and Blue surrendered a free kick from 19 yards out. Yale sophomore Hiro Suzuki chipped a shot over the wall of Penn defenders into the net. "I think on a couple of the goals we slipped and fell, but they fully deserved to win, but the boys never quit," O'Neill said. "They kept hanging in there." Just two minutes later, Yacks sped out for another breakaway. His blistering shot from 15 yards was saved by Penn goalie Mike O'Connor. Just a minute later, Yacks had the ball all alone coming down the sideline. This time, he wisely passed the ball to a cutting Harris, who netted his second of the game. Up 5-1 with 18 minutes remaining and the game decided, Yale continued to attack Penn. Its final goal came with two minutes remaining. The first of Penn's two remaining games takes place today at (time) Rhodes Field, as the Quakers host Lehigh.