Liza Kaufman, Photography Editor

The men’s soccer team (2–9–3, 1–4–1 Ivy) fell 3-0 to Penn (8–3–4, 3–1–2 Ivy) on Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia. 

From the opening whistle, Penn dictated the pace and generated chances early, outshooting Yale 23–7 and holding a 6–1 edge in corners. The Bulldogs conceded three first-half goals before steadying defensively after the break. Despite a stronger second half where the Elis kept the Quakers scoreless, the Bulldogs couldn’t overcome the Quakers’ early offensive surge.

Penn’s offensive pressure began early in the first half. Quick on his toes, Yale goalkeeper Conrad Lee ’26 kept the Quakers off the scoreboard with a save on Romeo Dahlen in the 10th minute. However, two minutes later Dahlen found Patrick Cayelli who sent the ball sailing through the posts, tallying the first goal of the game. 

Less than a minute later, Yale forward Sebi Roy ’29 tried to put Yale on the board, but his header just missed the top of the crossbar. Cayelli tried to tally his second goal of the game at the 16 minute mark, but once again Lee put a stop to the charge. Soon after, Vaughan Osga ’28 and Roy both made their way past the Penn defense and attempted shots but were not able to convert.

In the 36th minute, Penn’s Jack Wagoner scored on Lee with an assist from Cayelli, bringing Penn’s lead to 2-0. The duo was not done yet, finding each other minutes later when Wagoner netted his second goal of the game to give Penn a 3-0 lead in the 39th minute. 

Penn continued its aggressive offense for the remainder of the first half, with two more shots on goal from Owen Sullivan and Tim Shine to the bottom center and bottom left. Lee made two more saves for Yale, totaling four in the first half. At the final whistle of the first half, Penn led 3-0. 

After halftime, the Yale defense managed to hold Penn scoreless after a rough opening 45 minutes. Billy Altirs ’29 tried to put the Bulldogs on the board at the 68 minute mark, but Penn goalkeeper Phillip Falcon III made a save. Lee made two more saves of his own, totaling six for the day, to prevent Penn from tallying any more goals. 

Penn’s clean sheet victory on Saturday punched the Quakers’ ticket to the Ivy League Tournament that will be held from Nov. 13 through Nov. 16 at the No. 1 seed Princeton. Penn will enter as the No. 3 seed behind Cornell, the No. 2 seed.

With the Quakers securing their spot, only one remains and is up for grabs among the remaining five Ivy League teams. Brown (6–6–2, 2–3–1 Ivy) sits in fourth place in the Ivy League 2025 Men’s Soccer Standings with seven points, followed by Dartmouth (3–7–3, 2–4–0 Ivy) in fifth with 6 points and Harvard (5–5–5, 1–3–2 Ivy) in sixth with five points. Yale and Columbia sit at the bottom, tied with four points. 

For Yale’s tournament aspirations to remain alive, the Bulldogs will need to defeat Brown in their final regular season matchup next weekend. The squad can gain three points from a victory and max out for a season total of seven, but even then the Elis will need help elsewhere and a favorable tiebreaker to displace the current fourth-place team for the final Ivy tournament berth.

The Bulldogs will host the Bears on Saturday at Reese Stadium for their final game of the regular season. Before the game, the team will recognize its seniors and their contributions to the program.

Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m. in New Haven.