Ivy teams battle for title and NCAA spot

In order to reach the top of the Ivies, Penn must deal with these seven other teams. The Penn men's soccer team wasn't the only Ivy League team that saw its record take a dramatic downturn in 1997. The top three teams from 1996 -- Harvard, Cornell and Penn -- finished sixth, seventh and eighth respectively last season, going from a combined 13 league wins in '96 to just four. Meanwhile, Brown went from a one win team in '96 to a 5-1-1 league championship and NCAA qualifying team in '97. So where does that leave everyone for 1998? "The league has even more parity than last year," Brown coach Mike Noonan said. "Every school but Princeton has about nine starters returning." "It represents the quality and competitive nature of our league that all of [Brown's] league games were decided by one goal. It should be the same this year." · Brown has plenty of its own starters returning looking to repeat as Ivy champs. The offense is led by unanimous First Team All-Ivy striker Mike Rudy, who netted five goals and five assists in league games last year. In the back half of the field, the defense returns Second Team All-Ivy Ryan Smith. One key loss for the Bears is defenseman Hans Wittusen, a unanimous First Team All-Ivy player in 1997. · Dartmouth would have been Ivy champs if not for a 1-0 overtime loss to Brown in their final game of the season. Second, however, was good enough for an NCAA tournament berth where the Big Green advanced to the second round before falling to Southern Methodist, 2-0. This season's squad will enjoy the return of three First Team All-Ivy players, two more than any other team. Goalkeeper Matt Nyman led the league with a 0.39 goals against average in the seven league contests. In front of the senior keeper will be nine other returning starters, meaning nametags certainly weren't necessary during pre-season workouts. Dartmouth's game against Penn to open league play, on September 19, will be an early indicator of both squads' potential for success this season. · Harvard is a program which, like Penn, is looking to rebound from a troubling season. The championship form of 1996 found the bottom of the Charles River before the '97 kickoff, as Harvard never rebounded from a season opening 1-0 loss to Penn. The Crimson face the further challenge of replacing the Ivy League Player of the Year for the second straight season. This year, it is Tom McLaughlin who will be missing from the pitch. It is unclear who will earn the job of picking up the goal-scoring slack left by McLaughlin as Harvard does not return another All-Ivy player in a forward position. · Princeton coach Jim Barlow will see a familiar face when he spies Rudy Fuller on the sidelines for the Penn-Princeton match. Fuller and Barlow have worked together in the past but now find each other on rival sidelines. This year's game may be for little more than pride by the time the teams meet in November, as Princeton gave up nearly a goal and a half per game in their Ivy contests. · Cornell will showcase Richard Stimpson, who ended 1997 as both Ivy League Rookie of the Year and a First Team All-Ivy selection. The sophomore from Cheshire, England, led the Big Red in scoring with 18 points, and will have to put up big numbers again if his team wants to vault back up to its more traditional post at the top of the Ivy standings. · Yale posted a stunning 6-1 victory at home last season against the Quakers en route to a third place finish in the league. The rest of the Elis' Ivy games ended either as ties or with a one goal differential. If general league parity washes across the Ivies again this season, then Yale's ability to win its one-goal games will spell the difference between a winning or losing season. · Columbia has a fantastic soccer complex that Penn hopes to emulate with its current plans to update Rhodes Field. On the field, though, Penn hopes to fair far better than its urban neighbor. Columbia finished in the middle of the pack in both record and goals allowed, and returns just one player who was either First or Second team All-Ivy. There's no compelling reason to figure that much will change.

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