Veteran Brown squad battles back to down M. Soccer

The Quakers fell to 0-3-1 in the Ivy League as a result of Saturday's loss to the Bears. The Penn men's soccer team kissed two things goodbye at the end of its 2-1 loss to Brown on Saturday. Not only did the players bid farewell to their parents who had cheered enthusiastically for them throughout the game, but they also said so long to any hopes at winning the 1999 Ivy League title. The loss to Brown drops the Quakers' record to 0-3-1 in the Ivy League and 3-7-2 overall. Much as they did in their previous two games, the Quakers scored the first goal only to have their opponent net the next two. "[We] showed a lot of character," Brown coach Mike Noonan said. "We went down a goal and it's a difference between a younger team which Penn has and a team that went back to work after it had a goal scored on it. This result will go their way in time." The result might have gone Penn's way on Saturday had it not been for two dead ball kicks. After Penn scored on a Henry Chen penalty kick, the Bears stormed back down the field and drew a penalty. Brown forward Marcio scored his 10th goal of the season on a header off the penalty kick. Later in the half, Bears forward Scott Powers took another dead ball kick from Christian Martinez and chipped the ball right over the hands of Penn goalie Mike O'Connor. "The difference was that they had two special players that scored two special goals," Penn coach Rudy Fuller said. "Marcio makes a living off of half chances and the second goal was a classy goal." Until the first Brown goal, it looked as if Penn might make its 1-0 lead stand up. The first half was a back-and-forth battle that seemed like one goal was all that either side would need. The first opportunity for Penn came five minutes into the game when forward Mike McElwain couldn't catch up to a ball put through the middle. Brown countered quickly when forward Adrian Rapp brought the ball down the right side and forced O'Connor to make a save. Despite the chances, the only really close call for either team occurred off a Brown corner kick. The ball was placed in the middle of the goalie box out of the reach of O'Connor. After a couple of tense seconds of scrambling, however, the defense was able to clear the ball, and minutes later the half ended. "We don't relax until we score the first goal," Noonan said. "It's a difficult way to play, but it worked going into and throughout the second half." In the second half, the pace of the game picked up, but both teams seemed strong with one squad putting pressure on the defense and the other countering. Fifteen minutes into the second frame, Penn broke the scoreless tie when a penalty was called inside the goalie box. Henry Chen was able to convert the penalty with a crisp shot to the bottom left corner of the goal. "We had done well to get in their end and we had a good sequence," Fuller said. "What you want is to create a chance to score and we did that." Just four minutes later, however, the Bears were able to create their own opportunity off a penalty. From outside the penalty box Brown forward Scott Powers kicked the ball right at the group of players standing near the goal. Marcio stepped towards the ball and redirected the header past O'Connor. "We had guys all over him and he still made the shot," Fuller said. "He doesn't need a good chance to put it in the back of the net." The game appeared headed to overtime when the Bears drew another penalty near the spot of the previous one. The Quakers set up a wall, expecting a shot at the goal. Instead, Martinez struck the ball toward the left side and made its way out to Powers. "I was looking for a cross," O'Connor said. "But he was close enough so I had to cover the near post and he was able to chip it in the near corner." The picture-perfect goal into the upper back corner was Powers' fourth goal of the year. "Powers' goal was a class goal," Noonan said. "He saw that the goalie had come out too far and put it right over his head. It was a terrific finish." With just 10 minutes left, Penn couldn't respond. At the 88:30 mark, co-captain Reggie Brown made a run up the middle and took a hard shot but was robbed of a goal when Brown keeper Matt Cross made a beautiful save. "We had our chances in the end but that's just the way the day went," Penn defender John Salvucci said. "Nine out of 10 times [Powers] is going to miss that shot. It's just a matter of where the luck was." Three of the Quakers remaining five games are against Ivy opponents -- Yale, Princeton, and Harvard -- so the team is looking to play spoiler. "If I'm going down, someone's going down with me," Fuller said. "We have the opportunity to knock these guys out of the race. If we're not going to win it neither will any of these teams that we are playing, and I think our guys will really respond to that."

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