The two teams that shared the Ivy League soccer crown last season, Penn and Dartmouth, both found themselves winless in Ivy League play going into their matchup on Saturday. In what was essentially a must-win for both squads, Penn held off the Big Green, 1-0, in a hard-fought contest.
"It was a very difficult, challenging Ivy League game, as they all are,'' Penn coach Rudy Fuller said. "I think we played for each other and got the result that we deserved."
"I think overall we played real solidly and outplayed Dartmouth," Penn junior defender Erik Hallenbeck said. "All we needed was one chance and we were structured enough and good enough defensively to not give up a goal."
The early part of the first half saw both teams create pressure in their offensive ends, but Dartmouth (4-4-2, 0-3 Ivy) had more shots on goal as Penn senior goalkeeper Matt Haefner was forced to make all of his four saves in the first half en route to his third shutout of the season.
"I got some breaks and the defense helped me out a lot," the reigning Ivy League Player of the Year said. "I made some decent saves, and I feel pretty good about it. It's good to get a shutout, any shutout."
On the offensive side of the ball, Penn (4-4-2, 1-2) took full advantage of its only first-half shot attempt, as the Quakers found the back of the net in the 30th minute of play after a corner kick.
Junior midfielder Josh Duyan lofted his kick toward the far corner of the goal box and freshman defender Andy Howard headed the ball past Dartmouth freshman goalkeeper Rowan Anders to give Penn the early lead.
"We work on corners a lot and that's one of the spots where [Duyan] looks to play it, at the edge of the sticks," Howard said. "That's my spot and he played a good ball in, and I was just playing to get it on goal."
"We spent a lot of time on our re-starts because we felt like we weren't getting dangerous enough on our re-starts," Fuller said. "So it was great to get rewarded for the work that we put in."
The Quakers' defense made their early tally hold up, not allowing a Big Green shot on goal in the second half, despite Dartmouth's increased offensive pressure.
"We were just focusing on keeping organized," Hallenbeck said. "There's nothing special about today... defensively it was just normal strategy."
With their first Ivy League win under their belt, the Quakers will look to continue their success this week when they will face stiff competition from No. 2 Maryland and No. 16 Yale.
"It's going to be a really hard week for us," Howard said. "We need to play well. We're going to have to play a hell of a game against Maryland to get a result, but I think we can do it. Bringing Yale in next week is going to be huge. If we can get to .500 in the league it will be a big step towards getting back to the tournament."
