PRINCETON, N.J. - Before sophomore Alex Grendi could get back on his feet, his classmate Kevin Unger had done it again.
In a bizarre ending to the Penn men's soccer team's regular season at Princeton on Saturday, Unger netted his second golden goal of the season, propelling the Quakers (9-4-2, 5-1-1 Ivy) to a 1-0 win in overtime.
But since Harvard defeated Columbia on Saturday, Penn will have to settle for second-place in the Ivy League.
However, the victory snapped a 30-year winless streak when playing at Princeton (6-8-3, 1-5-1) and put the Quakers in a good position to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
After nearly 100 minutes of fast-paced soccer, characterized by a plethora of missed scoring chances, a second overtime seemed imminent.
And as Grendi collided with a Princeton defender while chasing after the ball in the 99th minute, it appeared that Penn had failed to convert on yet another strong attack.
With Grendi laying face-down on the pitch in pain, the referee yelled for Penn sophomore Mike Klein to kick the ball out of bounds so that the Quakers midfielder could be subbed out and given medical attention.
But Klein had other ideas. Amidst all of the confusion over Grendi's injury, Klein pushed the ball down the left sideline, ignoring the referee's advice to stop playing.
Klein then fed Unger, who fired a shot from wide left past goalie Justin Oppenheimer into the lower right corner of the goal to cap off the thrilling match.
"Everyone thought that we were going to kick it out, I guess," Unger said. "But I kept screaming at Klein, 'Don't, don't.'
"I couldn't really see the goal, so I just put it far post and luckily it went in."
By now, Penn is starting to grow accustomed to Unger's heroics.
A few weeks earlier against Columbia, he broke a scoreless tie in overtime with a golden goal in the 107th minute on a similar shot to the one that ended Saturday's game.
Princeton also had a slew of scoring opportunities throughout the game, including junior Kyle McHugh's shot from point-blank range in the 92nd minute.
But Penn senior Dan Cepero was brilliant in net, recording five saves to notch his eighth clean sheet of the season, tying his career high from last season.
"To finally get a win at Princeton, it was just incredible," Cepero said.
On defense, junior Jeff Livingston played his most dominant game of the season, using his 6-foot-3 frame to overpower Princeton's smaller forwards and midfielders - the Tigers' diminutive freshman standout Devin Muntz was not able to get a single shot on goal.
But for all of Princeton's quality opportunities, Penn had even more, including breakaways by senior Ryan Tracy and sophomore Omid Shokoufandeh.
"I'm really surprised it didn't end in regulation," head coach Rudy Fuller said.
Despite the fact that the Quakers could not salvage the league title, all of the players were upbeat after the game and optimistic about the team's chances of receiving an at-large bid.
"It was really good to finish on a high note," Livingston said.
Now, Penn's fate lies in the hands of the NCAA selection committee. The 48-team bracket for the College Cup will be revealed today at 4 p.m. on ESPNEWS.
