Harvard has already secured the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament — by virtue of their 2-0 win over the Quakers earlier in the year — but with a win, Penn could make a stronger argument for gaining an at-large bid.

The unassuming, undeniable leader of men’s soccer, Brandt will suit up in his last home game this Saturday against his Princeton counterpart, Antoine Hoppenot.

With three teams tied for second place in the conference, the Red and Blue have to win out to secure at least a share of the rings.

Freshmen basketball players Keelan Cairns and Simeon Esprit hail from Ireland and England, respectively, but have fit right in at Penn so far — or as well as two tall athletes with foreign accents can fit in.

Yet it’s rare that one becomes talented enough to play two sports at the Division-I level. Such is the case for sophomore volleyball player Kristen Etterbeek, who could just as well have been a collegiate tennis player.

Playing football with the same group of guys for four years has a funny way of strengthening camaraderie. For three Class of 2012 Quakers, the ties go back even further.

By 2005, Penn men’s soccer assistant coach Rob Irvine had grown tired of living in Hobbs, N.M., a small town of 30,000 people more than 300 miles from Albuquerque, N.M., the closest large city.

NFL veteran Roy Hilton has been teaching his grandson Brandon Copeland about the game since his grandson picked up a football in fifth grade.

Bernardini has most recently battled an ankle injury which sidelined him from most summer basketball activity, but with just over a week before the season tips off, he said he’s ready to roll.

Penn and Brown’s mudbowl in Providence, R.I., wasn’t the only football game affected by Saturday’s storm.

The official box score reads, “Temperature: 47, Wind: 10-15, Weather: rainy, cold.” If that told the whole story, the 2011 Quakers would still be undefeated in the Ivy League.

Because Penn tied Brown and Harvard defeated Dartmouth this weekend, the Crimson have clinched at least a share of the Ivy title, as well as the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

Though Penn was not able to get the win it needed, the Quakers and Army put on an offensive display in their 58-44 duel, exchanging punch for punch over 60 minutes.

The victory over Dartmouth was Penn’s second on the season and lifted the Quakers into sole possession of sixth place in the league.

With the rain and snow that pelted the northeast this weekend, Saturday’s men’s soccer match between Penn and Brown was shaping up to be unpleasant no matter the result.

Running through mud, sleet, rain and snow, Penn men’s and women’s cross country each placed last in the all-Ivy Heptagonal Championships, a disappointing finish as they gear up for the NCAA East Regional competition in two weeks.

This mentality played directly into the Penn field hockey team’s win over Brown, 3-2, on Saturday afternoon in Providence, R.I.