PHILADELHIA — The first day of the inaugural men’s soccer tournament did not disappoint as No. 3 Yale and No. 4 Brown advanced to Championship Sunday. The two will battle for the Ivy League tournament title as well as the league’s automatic berth to the NCAA tournament.
The first semifinal featured No. 2 Harvard and No. 3 Yale, however, it was Yale who controlled the pace a majority of the match as the Bulldogs took down the Crimson, 4-0.
Eric Lagos gave Yale a 1-0 lead in the 23th minute, rising above a defender and heading his shot into the top left corner. Lagos scored again for the Bulldogs with another header early in the second half, doubling the Bulldogs' lead. Just over three minutes later, Yale’s
Quanah Brayboy put home a rebound for Yale’s third score, while
Jamie Orson tapped home a loose ball in the 78th minute to complete the emphatic win and advance to the championship game.
The second semifinal was a thriller as the match finished with a 2-2 score between the top seed and host, Penn, and fourth-seeded Brown. After a scoreless first half that featured just two shots on goal, action heated up in the second stanza as Penn's
Leo Burney broke through in the 70th minute with a highlight reel bicycle kick goal to put the Quakers in front. With the time winding down, Brown responded with an 88th minute tally as
Levi Pillar flicked in a header off the post and in to knot things up at one.
Once again with time winding down with three minutes to go in the first overtime,
Scott Gustafson slid in a shot to the bottom left corner, giving the Bears a 2-1 edge. Penn responded in a big way just over two minutes into the second overtime when
Stas Korzeniowski used his height and poked in a header to tie things up, 2-2. As if things couldn’t get any more thrilling as the night grew older, Brown drew a penalty kick in the 107th minute sending
Kojo Dadzie to the spot, however his attempt was saved by
Phillip Falcon III to preserve the score and send the contest to a shootout.
The shootout was even through the first three rounds, but Brown gained the advantage in the third round when
Lorenzo Amaral’s attempt was successful to put the Bears up, 3-2. Penn’s final attempt sailed high as Brown came away with the shootout victory.
The Bulldogs and Bears now meet on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET at Penn Park in Philadelphia with an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament on the line. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+.