Penn and Brown showed their true colors on Saturday night at Rhodes Field: red and yellow.
The teams amassed a total of 33 fouls - 18 by the Bears, 15 by the Quakers - and racked up seven yellow cards and one red.
The Bears took all four of their yellow cards in the first half, including two from midfielder Darren Howerton in the first twenty minutes.
The senior's early ejection forced his teammates to play a man down for the rest of the match.
On the Quakers' side, Christian Barriero, Alex Fairman and Alex Grendi received yellows. In the 60th minute, sophomore Jason Gorskie received a red for an apparent late tackle.
By NCAA rules, Gorskie is suspended for this Saturday's match at Princeton, though he is free to participate in all team activities this week.
Gorskie's ejection may have been compensatory.
"We had been given a penalty kick and then a Brown player received his second yellow card," Penn coach Rudy Fuller said. "We knew as soon as the second yellow came out that in situations like [Gorskie's tackle], the refs sometimes tend to try and even things out."
At any rate, referee Bill Dittmar and his assistants doled out more cards than Penn had seen in a game since 2005, a 2-0 win over South Carolina.
Myslik River. The inaugural season of Princeton's Myslik Field has been kind to the Quakers.
In two games this year, Penn has gone 2-0 in the $8.4 million Roberts Stadium complex.
During the Princeton Soccer Tournament in mid September, the Red and Blue picked up wins over Seton Hall, 2-0, and American, 1-0.
The Tigers, meanwhile, are 2-4-1 in their own den this year.
Penn's bus leaves at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday for a one-hour trip to try to secure their second Garden State win against the Tigers in as many tries, dating back to 2006.
Win and they're in. Philadelphia could be title town again in two weeks.
After Harvard's synchronous loss to Dartmouth last Saturday, the Crimson and Quakers sit atop the Ivy League with 12 points apiece, leading to some intriguing title scenarios.
Penn and Harvard control their own destinies, and the eventual champion will likely be one of the two.
If the Quakers and the Crimson win their Ivy matches next weekend, they would set themselves up for a winner-take-all match for the outright title (or a share if they draw) on Nov. 15th when they face off at Rhodes Field.
Both teams could muddy their title chances with a loss or a tie this weekend. Dartmouth still threatens with 10 points, but it needs significant help.
Simply put, if the Quakers win their next two games, they will be outright Ivy League champions for the first time since 2002.
- Staff writer Neil Fanaroff contributed reporting to this article.
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