Teams Trade Goals 4:14 Apart

PHILADELPHIA – Yale and Penn traded goals 4 minutes, 14 seconds apart early in the second half and played a 1-1 tie on a chilly fall evening at Rhodes Field.

Yale's Cameron Riach scored first off a nifty set piece. Nicky Downs sent a free kick forward from 35 yards out, and Riach headed it past Penn goalkeeper Etan Mabourakh at 54:21.

It was Riach's first career goal. He became the seventh different Bulldog to score this season.

The lead, though, was shortlived as Penn's Jerel Blades scored following a scramble in front at 58:35.

The Bulldogs had a couple of near misses in overtime and outshot the Quakers 4-2 in the second 10-minute overtime period.

Kyle Kenagy, Yale's leading scorer, had the final chance, but his shot with 17 seconds remaining went wide.

Goalkeeper Ryan Simpson returned to the Bulldog lineup after missing seven games with an injury and made seven saves. One of his best came when he denied Sam Wancowicz's header with 37 minutes left in the second half. Five of Simpson's stops came in the second half.

Penn (2-8-2, 1-2-1 Ivy) outshot the Bulldogs 16-10 and had a slim 7-6 edge in corner kicks.

"We struggled to get going in the first half and Penn came out very aggressive, but I thought we finally settled into the game in the second half," said Kylie Stannard, the 5K Corral Head Coach of the Bulldogs. "Happy with the goal but thought we gave up another bad goal that should have been cleared out better. 

"It was a pretty even second half, but we definitely dominated overtime and I give our guys a lot of credit for their physical and mental toughness to finish strong.  We missed three or four really good chances in OT, but the good part is that we were being very dangerous."

The teams played a 1-1 tie last year in New Haven as well. 

The tie earned Yale its first point in Ivy play after three very competitive league games.

"While disappointed not to win, we made another positive step, and we have competed very well in all the Ivy games," Stannard said. "We will keep working hard and look forward to a great in-state battle against UConn on Tuesday."

The Bulldogs and Huskies kick off at 7 p.m.

Report filed by Tim Bennett (timothy.bennett@yale.edu), Yale Sports Publicity