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Junior defender John Salvucci skies for a header at Rhodes Field on Saturday against Brown. The Bears dealt Penn its third shutout loss of the season. (Will Burhop/The Daily Pennsylvanian)

In front of a Parents' Weekend crowd that braved the cold and windy elements on Saturday at Rhodes Field, speedy, athletic and relatively large Brown was uninspired, but did just enough to edge the equally uninspired Penn men's soccer team, 1-0. The match -- characterized as "dead" by Penn coach Rudy Fuller -- was decided by the lone Brown goal, which occurred in the 22nd minute of play, as the succinctly named Brown forward Marcio drew a foul that led to a Bears free kick. Scott Powers took the kick, which caught a strong wind and sailed past Penn goalkeeper Jeff Groeber and into the lower right corner of the net. "It was kind of unfortunate," Penn midfielder Alex Maasry said. "He was caught out, and the wind carried the ball a little farther than he thought it would." But while Groeber took away from his team's chances, he also helped the Red and Blue (5-9-1, 0-4-1 Ivy League), and his play after Powers' goal helped keep the score 1-0 and Penn in the game. With a little over 14 minutes left in the first half, Marcio accelerated past the Penn defense to Groeber's right and hit the crossbar with his shot, leading to a flurry of Brown corner kicks and an eventual penalty kick. The omnipresent Marcio took the kick and decided to try and put the ball in the left side of the net. Groeber dove and made the save, keeping Brown (9-4-1, 5-0) from taking a 2-0 lead. "He turned his game around very quickly on the save on the PK," Penn coach Rudy Fuller said. "That keeps us in it." Yet, Groeber's huge save didn't prove to shift the momentum. "I was hoping for that to really wake us up and have our team respond with more energy and enthusiasm," Fuller said. In the second half, Groeber also made saves to keep Brown close. A little over one minute into the second stanza, Penn midfielder/defender Henry Chen gave the ball away to Brown forward Adam Crew at the top of the box. With no one between Crew and a 2-0 lead but Groeber, the goalkeeper rushed out to meet Crew and immediately cut off his angle. Crew kicked the ball, but Groeber was able to get his hands on it. This is not to say that Groeber was alone in keeping the Quakers within striking distance -- the team defensive effort was sterling, save a few hiccups. A few minutes after Groeber's save at point blank range, Brown forward Adrian Rapp broke loose with the ball near the Penn net, but Penn defender Chris Kan and Groeber worked together to cut down Rapp's angle to the point where all he could do was send the ball harmlessly wide of the goal. And with over six minutes remaining in the contest, Brown midfielder Anders Kelto almost had a breakaway, but tripped and fell with a Penn defender trailing him closely. Nothing was called. The Quakers had their chances to knot the game at one, but fell short each time. In the first half, Penn almost scored when Maasry sent a crossing pass to midfielder/forward Billy Libby, but Libby's shot went off the goalie and off the post. And mere minutes into the second half, Penn found itself at the mouth of the Brown goal with the ball squirting around. The ball went behind Brown keeper Matthew Cross, but Maasry could not put a foot on it. "I thought the keeper took out my legs," a frustrated Maasry said. "I thought the ref was going to call a penalty kick, but he didn't make the call." Roughly 20 minutes later, Penn forward Sam Chamovitz nearly split two defenders, but could not, and Cross saved his shot easily.

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