Penn men’s soccer played through a nor’easter but couldn’t emerge from the storm victorious.
The Quakers (3-1-2, 0-0-1 Ivy) drew Yale (2-5-1, 0-0-1) in a Saturday night game defined by frustrating weather and overturned goals. Following an unmemorable first half, Penn had two late goals disallowed due to offsides, and Yale’s defense resisted repeated attacks to pull out a tie.
“At the end of the day, it’s about scoring goals, and I felt like we didn’t really create enough clear chances in that game,” senior midfielder and captain Jack-Ryan Jeremiah said. “I feel with the quality that we have on the team, especially some of the attacking guys we have this year, we should be holding ourselves to a higher standard than that.”
Yale came out of the gates at full sprint, and got their first shot of the game just a minute in. As senior goalkeeper Phillip Falcon III attempted to set the ball on the waterlogged field, wind gusts prevented his efforts. “It was very stormy and windy and rainy,” Jeremiah said of the field conditions, “but sometimes that’s how the game is, and you have to play with the cards that you’re dealt.”
As the half progressed, the Quakers dominated time of possession and ball control in the first half, racking up three corner kicks as the clock ticked on. The consistent offensive pressure provided the Bulldogs very little leeway to turn the ball up the rain-soaked field; yet, the Bulldogs’ defensive efforts were making it difficult for Penn to generate quality scoring chances.
What both teams were lacking in flashy displays on offense, however, was more than made up for by physicality. “In-conference games are different. Every time we’re going to play another Ivy League [program] it’s going to be physical, it’s going to be a battle,” Jeremiah said.
Although it was quiet on the offense for the first half, Yale nearly scored the first goal of the game into their own net. However, Bulldog goalkeeper Joshua Linebaugh made a diving save to keep the game scoreless after the first 45 minutes.
The Quakers emerged from halftime with a significantly increased sense of urgency and determination. Stagnant possession turned into surges of forward momentum, which then turned into dangerous goal-scoring opportunities. It wasn’t long before Jeremiah broke the deadlock in the 49th minute with a penalty kick fired into the bottom right corner of the goal.
The Bulldogs responded with a goal of their own as midfielder Teague McCammon equalized 16 minutes later to set up a tense final half hour. Full of physicality and fouls, the last 30 minutes saw freekicks on both sides and three yellow cards for Yale.
Penn weathered the wind and the Bulldogs’ aggressiveness to dominate the closing stages of the game. Through persistent attacks and opportunities, junior forward Romeo Dahlen scored what looked to be the go-ahead goal off a beautiful cross from freshman midfielder Wyatt Bonos until Yale’s challenge took it back off the scoreboard.
“It’s definitely hard in the moment because that’s a big momentum swing and a huge energy boost for the group, and to have that taken away is obviously super unfortunate,” Jeremiah said. “Some things are out of your control … control the controllables. The referee’s decision is his decision, and there’s nothing we can do to change that.”
Less than seven minutes later, junior forward Marco Bottene put yet another long cross in the back of the net. As the Quakers celebrated what was surely a tie-breaking goal, lightning struck twice, and Bottene’s game-winner was canceled due to an offsides call discovered in review.
“After Yale’s goal, the guys responded really well,” Gill said. “They went back on the offensive, and did everything they would have wanted to do to get a goal … I think this is just a new wave of sports that we’re seeing, how technology is playing into it, and it didn’t go our way yesterday.”
Penn will face Dartmouth at Rhodes Field on Oct. 3rd for their second conference game of the season. The Red and Blue look to upset the Big Green, who just defeated Ivy preseason favorite Princeton in a surprise shutout victory.
“I think the guys are really hungry and really energetic to get back out on the field and get a result against a good Dartmouth team who’s had some quality results over the past few games,” Jeremiah said. “It’ll be a huge test for us.”
