After Saturday night’s loss to Yale effectively put Penn’s men’s soccer team out of the race for the Ivy League title, coach Rudy Fuller’s children kicked the ball around while waiting for their father to finish his interviews. They were all smiles.
On Sunday, after fighting back tears following the loss the night before, senior defender Jake Levin strolled down Locust Walk also smiling, if just for a moment.
And today the Quakers return to the practice field to begin their preparation for Saturday’s match against Brown, even if only to play the spoiler.
RECAP: Yale dashes Penn title hopes with golden goal
“It’s tough,” senior Christian Barreiro said, “but that’s the way that sports go.”
Yet the manner in which the Quakers, so poised at the beginning of the season, fell out of contention is as close to tragic as sports can be.
“It’s difficult to watch any of our guys after a loss like that,” Fuller said. And for Penn, the season has been one characterized by near misses.
“Nobody expected to be where we are today,” Fuller said. “But you make your own luck.”
A last-minute goal to give Cornell a win, a yellow card in the box that allowed Dartmouth to score the eventual game winner and a red card that forced the Red and Blue to take risks against Yale serve as examples of how easily a game, and a season, can change.
The bookings in particular have cursed the Quakers — Levin had to sit out a game earlier this season after receiving his fifth yellow, and Saturday’s red to Nick Unger forced the team to play a man down. Penn is second in the League with 21 yellow cards this season, 1.5 per game.
“I’m never going to tell anyone that they’re playing too hard,” senior captain Thomas Brandt said.
Barreiro didn’t hesitate to back his teammate. Unger “gives 110 percent,” Barreiro said. “You just have to adjust, you have to go with it.”
Though the Quakers can point to missed opportunities, they don’t regret their physical style of play.
While the games thus far have come down to a few key moments, they didn’t have to, Fuller said.
“It’s up to us to make the chances count early in the game,” he said. “As good as we’ve played, the bottom line is that we can’t leave the game to the last minutes, leave it hanging in the balance.”
As for the rest of the season, the Red and Blue will adjust to playing the role of the spoiler within the Ivy League.
“I’m still very confident about our chances,” Brandt said. “The results just haven’t gone our way.”
Sometimes, that’s just the way sports go.
The Daily Pennsylvanian is an independent, student-run newspaper. Please consider making a donation to support the coverage that shapes the University. Your generosity ensures a future of strong journalism at Penn.
DonatePlease note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.