Men's soccer falls after Dartmouth's Lucky strike

Sometimes, in a close match, it pays to be Lucky.

That’s likely how Dartmouth felt after beating the Penn men’s soccer team, 2-1, at Rhodes Field Saturday. Big Green striker Lucky Mkosana scored on a penalty kick awarded after a dubious call, and the Quakers never saw the light again.

“I was in front of the guy when it happened,” said Penn captain Thomas Brandt, who was as surprised as the 439 fans in the stands when the foul was called.

“[The referees] said he was tripped — it rarely gets called but was this time,” he added.

Coach Rudy Fuller called it “a soft penalty.”

The loss put the Quakers (6-5-2, 1-2 Ivy) at sixth in the Ivy League, but their coach still believes they can win the championship.

“This is definitely a year where you can win with two losses,” he said.

Penn had a slow start that culminated in a Dartmouth goal by forward Maarten van Ess at the 14th minute — his only shot of the night.

But Fuller’s team regrouped and tied the game, 1-1, five minutes later thanks to star midfielder Christian Barreiro’s sixth goal of the season. The strike came off a Penn corner that resulted in a wild sequence of play inside Big Green’s 18-yard box, including a series of blocked shots and changes of possession.

It only took one minute, though, before the penalty kick was awarded to Mkosana, who leads the Ivy League with eight goals.

At the time, with 70 minutes remaining in the game — 70 minutes that Penn dominated possession-wise — nothing seemed lost for the Quakers. But besides Barreiro’s score, none of Penn’s 14 shots went past stout opposing goalkeeper Noah Cohen, who had four saves.

“I felt like we deserved more than one goal,” said Fuller, who was satisfied with his team’s performance despite the loss.

“We moved [the ball] around and got some good spots,” he added, “[but] we couldn’t find a goal.”

The Quakers had numerous opportunities to tie the game, including a corner at the 89th minute where sophomore back Jonny Dolezal’s headshot was too high. Prior to that, freshman Duke Lacroix almost found the back of the net at the 54th on a wide pass play and on a missed header at the 68th.

Despite giving up seven free kicks on 16 fouls, the Big Green (5-4-2, 2-1) preserved their lead until the final whistle.

Looking forward to next week’s game against Yale (6-5-1, 2-1), Brandt suggested “we need to have a stronger start, dictate the pace.”

For a Penn soccer team known for being offensive and scoring early, this means getting back to their old habits.

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