NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The University of Pennsylvania men's soccer team battled the elements Saturday night at Reese Stadium and came away with a 1-1 draw after 90 minutes on the road at Yale.
Senior captain
Jack-Ryan Jeremiah broke the deadlock in the 50th minute from the penalty spot following a handball in the box by the Bulldogs. However, the hosts battled back to find an equalizer through Teague McCammon in the 63rd minute which resulted in shared points at fulltime.
Quaker Notemeal
*The Quakers scored two more times in the second half, but both tallies were chalked off for offside in the build up.
*All four members of the Red and Blue's backline—
Malachi Neal,
Connor Dawson,
Kalani Kunimura, and
Owen Sullivan—played the full 90 minutes and kept Yale quiet for the majority of Saturday's matchup.
*Penn registered more shots (12-7), shots on goal (2-1) and corners (4-1) throughout the match and drew 12 fouls to the hosts' four.
*Jeremiah now sits on four points for the season after converting his second penalty of the campaign.
*Sophomore midfielder
Becket Empson-Speiden played a career-high 61 minutes versus the Bulldogs and was a lively threat during the contest.
*Senior goalkeeper
Phillip Falcon III was kept busy for 90 minutes with windy conditions and services into the box, but was never required to make a save.
How It Happened
The hosts nearly opened the scoring in the second minute. Following kickoff, Yale worked the ball down the left flank and it eventually made its way to the feet of Salif Leintu. He did well to create space for a shooting opportunity, but his strike soared over Falcon III and the crossbar.
Both sides continued to settle into the match through the opening 10 minutes, but the windy conditions and slick pitch proved to be tricky early on.
Penn began to leave its footprint on the contest as the half wore on by maintaining high amounts of possession that kept the Bulldogs pinned back in their own half. The Quakers' first real chance of the game came in the 31st minute. Kunimura had the ball in the right channel before picking his head up to fizz a cross into the box. Sophomore forward
Adam Ambrus-Aikelin received the ball on the half turn and fired a quick shot, but his effort took a deflection and went out for a corner.
Head coach
Brian Gill's group was very disciplined in midfield which resulted in Yale taking an extremely direct approach through the first 40 minutes.
With three minutes to go before the half, the visitors nearly broke the deadlock. Sullivan and
Wyatt Bonos linked up well down the left flank, leaving Bonos with room to run. The freshman immediately drove towards the byline while looking for a teammate in the box. His pass ended up deflecting off of a Bulldog and redirected on goal, but Joshua Linebaugh was up to the task to keep the match scoreless.
At the intermission, the contest stood still at 0-0.
The Quakers made some changes at halftime and came out of the locker room with a high press, which paid off in the 50th minute. A strike by Sullivan from inside the box forced a mistake from Linebaugh and a Yale defender accidentally committed a handball when trying to clear the ball. The decision was checked by the video assistant referee (VAR) and the handball stood. Jeremiah took the responsibility from the spot and calmly dispatched his second penalty of the season to give the visitors a 1-0 advantage.
Both sides traded half chances over the next few minutes, but neither was able to capitalize.
Despite Penn's defensive quality through the first 60 minutes, Yale found its equalizer in the 63rd minute. Leintu was 25 yards from goal when he spotted a darting run from Sven Meacham. The fullback collected the ball near the byline and lofted a cross towards the back stick where McCammon was waiting to pounce. His tidy first-time finish left Falcon III no chance and with 27 minutes to go the match was all square.
It appeared that
Romeo Dahlen restored the visitors' lead with a clinical header in the 69th minute, but fellow classmate
Marco Bottene was offside in the build up. Moments later, Bottene found the back of the net with a low-driven effort that beat Linebaugh, but Sullivan was also called offside.
The Quakers dominated the final 15 minutes in New Haven and had numerous half chances. Despite their high energy and ball retention, Yale did just enough down the stretch to keep Penn off the board and escape with a point.
Up Next
The Red and Blue (3-1-2, 0-0-1 Ivy League) continue Ivy League action next Saturday at 4 p.m. as Dartmouth makes the trip to University City.
#FightOnPenn
