With the season all but over, the Penn men's soccer team took the field against Harvard hoping to come together to end on a high note.
The Quakers (6-9-2, 2-5 Ivy) came out looking a lot more like the 2002 squad that won the Ivy League title than the team that had lost five of its six Ivy matchups this fall, defeating the Crimson, 2-1.
Though the Red and Blue did not capitalize on their offensive chances until the second half, and were outshot by the Crimson in both halves, Penn players said their performance was better than this season's norm.
"It was probably the best game we played as a team all year," junior midfielder Josh Duyan said. "We played well in the first half.... We had some good chances, but just didn't finish them off.
"I think we just wore them down."
As it was the final game of a disappointing season, the Quakers did not spend as much time on scouting Harvard as they did other teams earlier in the year.
"At this point in the year, there was not enough time to worry about them," junior co-captain Erik Hallenbeck said. "We just needed to worry about us."
Harvard (8-6-3, 2-4-1) struck first in the 41st minute, when freshman forward Matt Hoff took a pass from senior midfielder Grayson Sugarman and put it past Penn goalkeeper Matt Haefner. It would be the last goal Haefner allowed in his illustrious career at Penn.
Despite the deficit, Hallenbeck said he was happy with how the Penn defense controlled the Crimson offense.
"They have Kevin Ara in the middle, who is one of the best playmakers in the Ivy League in the middle," he said. "But we had a couple of big plays as a defense and Matt as a goalie, so we kept them from going forward."
The Quakers found the back of the net 31 minutes later, when Duyan finished a ball from sophomore midfielder Richard Brushett.
"The cross from Richard split the defense, and I just struck it on the bounce as hard as I could," Duyan said. "The goalie was out of position.
"I think that was an equalizer for us. It helped us shift the momentum and get us back in the game."
Just over five minutes later, Quakers co-captain Stephen Kroculick hit the game winner off a pass from sophomore forward John Rhodes.
"Rhodes got the ball in the midfield about 30 yards out, dribbled around the defender and kicked the ball over to me," Kroculick said. "It was all Rhodes. All I had to do was knock it in. He made it easy for me."
The Quakers said that this win means a lot to the players returning for the spring season and next fall.
"Coach [Rudy Fuller] said he wanted this to be the first game of next year, since this season was pretty much over," Duyan said. "I think people's aspirations will be higher for next year."
"It was one of the first times we put it together for 90 minutes all season," Hallenbeck said. "I think some people were losing confidence in our game, so seeing that we could still be a good team after the rough patches we had this season will bring back the passion to play for the spring and next fall."
"We knew the whole season that we could win games, it just didn't work out for us," Kroculick said. "This will help us put the right foot forward to get started for next season."
