Penn men's soccer narrowly falls to West Virginia before heading to Brown for big match

The fight continues.

Just three days after Penn men's soccer's 4-1 win against Yale, the Quakers fell to West Virginia, 1-0, on Tuesday in one of their more even matches of the season. 

Beginning an aggressive first half, senior captain Sam Wancowicz pushed the ball into the West Virginia half of the field, pressuring their defense early on with a shot from distance in the 26th minute. He attempted two shots on the night, tied for a team-high alongside freshman Jake Kohlbrenner.

Later in the match, one of Kohlbrenner’s shots actually went in the goal, but the play was called offsides, and the goal was negated.

"I guess the mindset was to get good service into the box, and Jake got on the end of one," Wancowicz said, "but unfortunately he was called offsides...I think we were pretty close on a couple." 

The battle between the Red and Blue (3-10-1, 1-2-1 Ivy) and the Mountaineers (8-4-4), one of the better teams Penn has played this season, shifted back and forth throughout the game. In the 65th minute, West Virginia scored off a penalty kick to take a slim one-goal lead that the Mountaineers would hold onto for the rest of the match.

The teeter-totter game continued as the evenly-matched forces brought the ball up and down the field, each attempting to take shots that would sway the game.

During these last few weeks especially, the Red and Blue have started to find their place and have heightened their play, becoming a more cohesive unit with results taking a turn for the better — including the team's 4-1 domination of Yale last weekend.

“I think that the team has matured a great deal over the past few weeks and has settled in with one another. I think we are in a fairly good place right now regarding our mentality and approach, and I think we are looking forward to the task at Brown on Saturday,” coach Rudy Fuller said about the team's progression.

Moving on from their most recent defeat, the Red and Blue are looking forward to playing in the Ivy League once again this Saturday, also away against Brown under the lights at 7pm.

With a successful return to conference play this Saturday, the Quakers could pick up enough momentum to end the season on a high note. They have three games left and sit tied for fifth in the Ivy League, alongside Brown, and are sandwiched on either side by Harvard and Princeton — their last two games of the season. These fixtures will give Penn the chance to rise up the conference table after a slow start to the season.