As the Penn men's soccer team learned yesterday, it's not easy to unseat the champion.
After winning their first three league games, the Quakers finally faltered against defending league co-champion Dartmouth, losing for the first time in nearly a month by a score of 2-1.
Riding the momentum from a thrilling double-overtime victory a week earlier against Columbia, Penn (7-3-1, 3-1-0 Ivy) entered the game in high spirits, unfazed by the eight-hour drive to Hanover, N.H.
"We came out sharp with a lot of energy," coach Rudy Fuller said. "I credit our guys with their approach to this game."
The Big Green (4-5-3, 2-1-1) scored first on a header by Pumi Maqubela in the 19th minute, but the Quakers bounced back quickly, earning several quality scoring opportunities in the ensuing minutes.
Penn capitalized in the 38th minute, as sophomore Kevin Unger - last week's Philadelphia Soccer Seven Player of the Week - headed home the equalizer off of a high corner kick from classmate Mike Klein.
But the goal wouldn't stand for too long, as Dartmouth's freshman sensation, Daniel Keat - last week's Ivy League Rookie of the Week - picked up right where he left off.
The New Zealander slid into the ball in the 52nd minute to beat senior Dan Cepero, notching the go-ahead goal and taking the wind out of the Quakers' sails.
Penn continued to have decent chances in the second half - Dartmouth only recorded one more shot in the game than Penn did - but the Red and Blue had difficulty capitalizing its runs.
"Dartmouth did a very good job of finishing their two big chances," Fuller said. "We just weren't sharp enough in the final third to take advantage of our opportunities."
Cepero saved two of the Big Green's four shots on goal, while Dartmouth's Rowan Anders stopped four of five.
Though the loss decreased some margin of error for the Quakers going forward, Fuller stressed that one game never makes or breaks a season.
"I've said from the beginning of the season that there are going to be a lot of teams in contention in the last few weeks," Fuller said. "We feel good about getting three wins out of four, but this group of guys doesn't like to lose."
Looking ahead, Penn's remaining three Ivy League contests will bear even greater importance, especially as Harvard - which is tied for first with the Quakers - has been dominant since losing to Penn a few weeks ago.
After its final non-league matchup at American University on Wednesday, the team will travel to Yale (5-8-1, 1-3) next Saturday. On Oct. 28, Penn hosts third-place Brown (8-3-1, 2-1-1) and finishes the season the following week at Princeton (6-5-3, 1-2-1).
