Coach Rudy Fuller always says that anything can happen in any given Ivy League matchup.
Unfortunately for Penn men’s soccer, the team ended up with the short end of the stick against Yale, fighting to a 1-1 draw against one of the weakest teams in the country.
The Elis (1-9-3, 0-3-1 Ivy) opened up the game with a goal in the third minute from junior Keith Bond . The goal was the first of the season for Bond and just the sixth goal that Yale has scored all season.
Junior Forrest Clancy responded for the Quakers (6-6-1, 2-1-1) with a goal of his own just four minutes later to tie the game. While Penn and Yale each found multiple opportunities to score throughout the remainder of the game, neither was able to find the back of the net.
Overall, Yale was able to put more pressure on the Quakers’ defense, taking 17 shots to Penn’s nine. Junior goalkeeper Max Polkinhorne came up with a few key stops to maintain the tie, but the Quakers struggled to convert offensive opportunities of their own.
With the draw, the Quakers no longer control their own destiny in the Ivy League. The team sits in a three-way tie for second place, with Dartmouth reclaiming its spot atop the Ivies.
While this match doesn’t necessarily eliminate Penn from title contention, it does mean that the Quakers require a Dartmouth loss or tie to move back into first place. Furthermore, the Red and Blue have yet to face two of their toughest conference foes in Harvard and Princeton.
Against an Elis team that has managed just one win on the season and ranks in the bottom 10 of all NCAA Division I teams in terms of RPI, a win was somewhat expected for the Quakers going into the match.
Penn will take on West Virginia at Rhodes Field in its final nonconference match on Tuesday.
