For the second straight season, there was nothing to split the Brown men’s soccer team from its closest Ivy League rival.
On Saturday night in Cambridge, Bruno (3-4-3, 1-0-2 Ivy) fought to a nil-nil draw with Harvard (2-3-5, 1-0-2 Ivy) — just as they had in last year’s game in Providence.
“We left that win on the table,” Head Coach Chase Wileman said. “But a point on the road in the Ivy League is a good point. We just need to find that little extra to get the win.”
In the first half, the Bears were dominant, recording 12 shots to the Crimson’s one. But poor finishing combined with five saves from Harvard goalie Lucian Wood kept the game scoreless, and while a more even second half saw each team take seven attempts at goal, neither side could find the back of the net.
“I think we deserved the three points,” said midfielder Langdon Gryglas ’26. “We just lacked a bit of extra quality to finish off our chances. Although, it's never easy to go on the road in the Ivy League and you have to give credit to the opponent. We played well in the match and, despite not getting the win, a point on the road is a decent result.”
“I think we let them off the hook. We could have scored, especially in the first half, and a good save kept them in it,” said goalkeeper Hudson Blatteis ’24. “Overall, though, I think we played some of our best soccer so far with great buildup play, and always happy to get a clean sheet and a result on the road.”
The scoreless draw marked the first career clean sheet for Blatteis, who entered last weekend’s game vs. Cornell after an injury to starter Henrik Weiper ’26.
The Brown defense has tightened significantly since an early stretch of the season that saw the Bears concede a goal in each of their first six games, including a loss to Fairfield University in which they allowed six goals. Bruno has allowed just one goal so far in Ivy League play, giving them the best defensive record in the conference.
The game against the Crimson continues the Bears’ solid run to begin conference play, having drawn 1-1 last weekend with Cornell — a program frequently ranked in the top 25 nationally — and beaten Columbia 4-0 at home to open Ivy play.
Brown now stands tied with Harvard and Yale at second place in the conference with five points.
The Bears have already surpassed their point total from last year, when they failed to win a single game, recording only three draws to finish bottom of the Ivy League.
This season is the first in which the Ivy League will have a postseason tournament, giving the top four teams in the standings a chance to be named conference champions and earn an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
While the Bears currently stand in a good position, they still have work to do. In previous years, teams have typically needed around nine or 10 points to finish in the top half of the standings. That means Brown will likely need to get multiple results in its final four Ivy games to qualify for the postseason tournament.
After a midweek game against the University of Massachusetts Lowell, the Bears will host defending Ivy champions Penn next Saturday.
“I think we have performed very well in the Ivy League thus far,” Blatteis said. “We're in a great spot, with the league tables all being extremely tight. It’s important to take it one game at a time, but a win against Penn this Saturday will put ourselves in a great position going into the back half of the league (schedule).”
