All the frustration building up from a season of unexpected disappointment for the Penn men's soccer team seemed to spill onto Rhodes Field on Saturday as the Quakers dropped a heartbreaker to Yale, 1-0.
This uncharacteristically sluggish loss put a repeat as Ivy League champions essentially out of reach for the Quakers (4-6-2, 1-3 Ivy).
The game appeared to be physical, as two Penn players combined for three penalty cards.
Quakers junior midfielder Josh Duyan received a yellow card in the 11th minute, while freshman defender Andy Howard received a yellow at the end of the first half and a red card in the final two minutes of the game, resulting in an ejection and one-game suspension.
The Quakers cited the frustration from playing catch-up in a game Yale controlled as the reason behind the calls.
"We were chasing the game the entire 90 minutes," Penn coach Rudy Fuller said. "We were struggling to keep up with them the whole day."
This struggle stemmed from Penn's quality of play, which all agreed was far below what is necessary to win an Ivy League game.
"We didn't play well or play together," Howard said. "We just didn't have it today."
"We just went through the motions," junior co-captain Stephen Kroculick said. "There was no passion or heart from the team at all."
The outcome was equally disappointing because Fuller said the Elis brought no surprises.
"Yale did exactly what we expected them to do.... The biggest reason for the result today was what we didn't do," he said.
The closest Penn came to a goal was in the first half when Duyan got a good shot off from the left side in the 13th minute that bounced off the right post.
"It was a midfield battle," Kroculick said. "Neither team really had many shots or good chances, but they had one and they put it away when we didn't finish."
In the 61st minute, senior midfielder Jay Alberts took a pass from junior Andrew Dealy, sped down the right sideline and fired a shot past the diving goalie Matt Haefner.
The second half brought a significant surge in Penn's offense -- after a first half controlled by Yale possession -- but it was not enough to tie the game.
"We were just poor in every facet of the game," Fuller said.
A glaring weakness for Penn appeared to be the Quakers' failure to capitalize on opportunities close to the Yale goal.
"We definitely have to finish our chances, but we really didn't create many," Kroculick said. "Overall, we didn't do anything in the offensive third, not enough to create one goal, let alone two."
The issue for the Quakers will be regaining control of a season that appears to be slipping from their grasp. That seems to start with finding the energy that helped them become Ivy League champions last fall.
"We just got kicked in the face at our own field, and that is something that cannot happen," Howard said.
"Yale came in and completely outplayed us and outworked us," Fuller said. "They absolutely deserved to win today.
"It all comes down to us not competing hard enough and being sharp enough to create chances."
