PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Facing the team that is on its way to this year's Ivy League Championship in men's soccer, the defending champion Quakers put forth an admirable effort and played as if their title was on the line.
Only 13 of the Quakers made the trip to Providence, R.I., after nine players were suspended for two games for a violation of team rules.
Starting goalie Matt Haefner and starting midfielder Charles Snyder along with regular contributors Joe Klein and Derrick Jumper were among the seven players who served the first game of the suspension. Two players who violated rules played and will serve suspensions later. Defenders Andy Howard and Erik Violante also missed the game due to a red card and an injury, respectively.
The 11 Quakers that played left it all on the field.
Many players were forced to play out of position and a couple of freshmen stepped into the starting lineup in front of the 1,300 spectators.
Junior Josh Duyan and sophomores Artie Bartholomew and Richard Brushett all played out of position as they joined junior co-captain Erik Hallenbeck as defenders on the Quakers backline.
"There were three guys in the back with Hallenbeck that aren't defenders," Penn coach Rudy Fuller said. "They're all midfielders. I thought they did well."
"I think they did a great job," Hallenbeck said. "I think at first, it was tough because it was three guys that never play in the back and then you can get adjusted to the organization and how to feed the ball to the midfielders and forwards, but I'd say in the second half they did a wonderful job."
Freshman midfielder Ryan Tracy and freshman goalkeeper Dan Cepero stepped into the starting lineup for the first time in an Ivy League contest.
Tracy put forth a solid effort for the 90 minutes of play, making runs at the ball on both sides of the field.
Cepero stepped into the goalbox for only the second time this season and was impressive against a high-powered Brown offense. The Bears came in averaging 2.25 goals per game in Ivy League contests, but Cepero and the Penn defense held Brown to only one goal.
"He stepped in and played great," Fuller said. "He looked confident. He was beaten by a good shot, but I think he had command of his box."
After surrendering a first half goal, Penn came out with a spark to start the second half.
We played "a better second half than first," junior forward Stephen Kroculick said. "We came out and played actually a soccer game, which is nice to see. Hopefully in the rest of the games we'll play that way and get a couple of wins."
Without the benefit of a single substitution, the Quakers showed a great deal of determination and hustle that was evident in their control of play in the second half, outshooting the Bears, 7-4.
"These 13 guys that traveled with the team -- my hat goes off to them," Fuller said. "They did respond. Although we didn't come out in the beginning and play with the intensity we needed to, the attitude we needed to, they showed up."
