NEW YORK -- Two games into the Ivy League schedule, the Penn men's soccer team finds itself on the verge of being out of the hunt for a second consecutive league crown after losing, 2-1, at Columbia on Saturday.
After surrendering a goal toward the end of the first half, the Quakers (3-4-2, 0-2 Ivy) dodged a couple of bullets as the Lions (6-3, 1-1) were unable to capitalize on a pair of golden opportunities.
The Quakers managed to tie the game late in the second half on a Richard Brushett goal, but were unable to maintain the tie as Columbia's Jorrell Best scored with less than nine minutes to play.
Penn coach Rudy Fuller was not satisfied with his team's play.
"It was a very disjointed performance on our part," Fuller said. "I felt from the start we were out of sync and... it took us a while to get into the game."
The game's first scoring opportunity was created by Columbia freshman Scott Waddell, brother of Penn junior midfielder Matthew Waddell, as he drew a foul that yielded a free kick at the top of Penn's 18-yard box. However, his teammate, senior midfielder Tommy McMenemy, launched the ball over the wall of Penn defenders and at least five feet above the net.
McMenemy atoned for his errant shot as he knocked the ball past Penn senior goalkeeper Matt Haefner in the 32nd minute.
Columbia had two opportunities to widen their lead in the second half, but both were not finished. The first came six minutes into the half when McMenemy received a cross within the goal box and hit the top crossbar of the goal.
The second opportunity came with 18 minutes to play as Columbia was awarded a penalty kick as Haefner was out of the net to play a loose ball and went for a dive, taking out junior forward Best's legs.
Junior midfielder Stephen Foster took the kick for Columbia, but shot the ball wide left of the net.
Roughly four minutes later, the Red and Blue took advantage of the Lions' missed opportunities as Brushett scored off an assist by junior forward David Maier.
"I saw Josh Duyan making a run down the field and he looked for David Maier instead of me," Brushett said. "So I held up my run and Maier played a great ball across, and basically all I had to do was put it in the back of the net."
The tie would not last. Columbia scored after a corner kick in the 83rd minute of play. Best put away the winning goal off the rebound of a teammate's shot.
"It was another lofted ball into the middle of the box," Fuller said. "We should have done better with it."
The Quakers are certainly in a dire situation as they seek to defend their Ivy League title, but they are concentrating on what they can control, their own play and their upcoming game with Dartmouth.
"There's no way we're putting our heads down," junior Erik Hallenbeck said,"and not going to finish off the season as hard as we can."
