Soccer bloodied by Crimson at Rhodes Field

The Penn men's soccer team remained winless in the Ivies after falling to Harvard. Unfortunately for the Quakers, moral victories do not produce championships. In front of a packed Parents Weekend crowd at Rhodes Field, the Penn men's soccer team outshot, outhustled and outplayed Harvard, yet still fell to the Crimson, 2-0. "This was one of the best games we've played," Penn defenseman Ted Lehman said, "We outhustled [Harvard], we possessed the ball more than they did. But at the end of the game, they were up on the scoreboard." In a battle between two teams struggling for their first Ivy league win, Harvard (2-4-1, 1-2 Ivy League) capitalized on its only two real scoring chances of the game while Penn failed to convert on any of its numerous opportunities. As a result, the Quakers (1-6, 0-3) were shut out for the fourth time this season. "We clearly outplayed them. Their keeper made some very quality saves to keep us off the board," Penn coach Rudy Fuller said. "[Harvard] had two quality chances, and they capitalized on both." The Crimson cracked the scoreless tie 29 minutes into the first half, when midfielder Paul Cantagallo found teammate Nick Lenicheck, who pushed the ball down the left sideline before firing his first goal of the season past Penn goalie Mike O'Connor. Moments after Lenicheck's goal, the ominous skies opened up a light drizzle. Like the sky, which threatened rain the entire half without ever drenching the 400-plus fans in attendance, the Quakers appeared ready to threaten the Crimson's lead on several occasions but failed to convert. With 13 minutes left in the half, Penn tri-captain Jared Boggs sent a free kick near the 18-yard line to teammate Aaron Cohen, but instead of taking a shot the freshman sent a crossing pass that was intercepted near the Harvard goal. A minute later, Quakers forward Evan Anderson, also a freshman, knocked a crossing pass right onto the goal, but Crimson keeper Jordan Dupuis was there to swallow it up. For the remainder of the half, the Quakers kept plugging away and kept meeting the same result. With 10 minutes left, Dupuis beat Penn sparkplug Reggie Brown, who fired three shots on the day, to a loose ball at the 18. With 30 seconds left in the half, Brown fed Anderson near the Harvard goal, but Dupuis came up big once again, diving at Anderson's feet before a shot could be taken. Whatever it was that Fuller said to his team at the half, it clearly had an effect. The Quakers came out even more motivated after the break, outshooting the Crimson 8-4 in the second half. "Our guys felt they deserved to be on top at halftime," Fuller said. "They knew they had to step up their efforts to another level and they did." In addition to stepping up their number of shots, the Quakers also upped their aggressiveness, earning four yellow cards in the second half. Thirty seconds after Penn's John Salvucci picked up a yellow card, teammate Tom Hughes, the Quakers' 6-6 defensive force, earned himself a caution for a near-fight with Harvard's Ryan Kelly. "I was a little frustrated. I was into the game, and I thought it might've been a cheap foul," Hughes said. "I was dribbling, [Harvard's Mike Peller] kicked me, we both went down. Then there was a scuffle and [Kelly] came over." A Harvard foul set up a free kick for Penn outside the 18 with 17 minutes remaining, but Penn's David Bonder, who took five shots in the game, fired the ball off the wall of Crimson defenders and out of bounds. Six minutes later, Harvard notched its second score of the game to seal the victory. O'Connor made a diving save on a shot from Harvard's Marko Soldo, but Matt Edwards put home the rebound for his first career goal. While the two schools entered the match on even footing, Harvard left Rhodes Field with a new lease on its Ivy season while Penn was left still searching for its first Ivy win. "Now we have our first Ivy win," Harvard leading scorer Armando Petrucelli said. "We at least have a chance, a shot at winning the title." Petrucelli, who missed last season for the Crimson while studying and playing in Italy, also expounded on the reason Harvard won, which also happens to summarize Penn's biggest problem -- conversion of opportunities. "We scored and they didn't -- that was the difference. They really outplayed us," Petrucelli said. "We're so lucky to leave with a win." Despite their scoring problems, the Quakers remained upbeat after the game. "We came out and played a full, hard 90-minute game," Hughes said. Though Penn is a young team, with a new coach and fresh look this season, no one is ready to throw in the towel on '98 or call it a "rebuilding year." "Everybody's still playing, and playing to win every game," Lehman said. "The guys are still upbeat. We're not happy about the loss, but the wins are going to come." Perhaps that is what is motivating the Quakers. Though they have scored just three goals this season, they have played close matches with several ranked opponents. Fuller was especially encouraged by Saturday's game, in which Penn played a full 90 minutes without relenting the pressure. Though they have still not earned the "break-out" victory, which Reggie Brown stressed that the team needed before the Cornell game last week, the Quakers are sitting patiently, waiting for the game when their hard work will pay off, when the moral victories will become legitimate "W"s. "There's nothing really to work on. If we keep playing like this, shooting like this, the goals will come," Hughes said. "Once we get one or two goals, then they're all going to start coming."