Men’s soccer suffered a heartbreaking 2-1 overtime loss to No. 12 Penn in the Ivy League semifinals in Philadelphia on Friday. The defeat ended the Bears’ 2024 season and sent Penn to a championship matchup against Princeton.
“I am proud of the team for putting up our best performance of the season in a big game in a big atmosphere,” Coach Chase Wileman wrote in an email to The Herald. “The game was a great advert for Ivy League soccer and the student-athletes on both teams put on a great game and represented their institutions with pride.”
Penn entered the match with a 7-0 record in Ivy League play, having all but clinched their spot in the NCAA Men’s College Soccer Cup. Despite the Quakers’ impressive resume and shutout 2-0 win over Brown at Rhoades Field in October, Bruno refused to be intimidated.
“We felt we could go toe to toe with anyone we came up against,” midfielder Jack Cloherty ’25 wrote.
Forward Lorenzo Amaral ’27 also emphasized that the team’s confidence going into the game was strong. “Even though Penn was undefeated, I felt that we were evenly matched up against them, and it was really anyone’s game that night,” Amaral wrote.
The Bears came out swinging, registering three shots in the opening 10 minutes while conceding none. In the second minute, Mads Stistrup Petersen ’26 fired a header towards the net, only to have it blocked by a flying save from Penn’s goalkeeper. Brown continued its offensive onslaught, keeping the ball in the attacking third. Just a minute later, Amaral attempted to capitalize on a powerful cross by Charlie Adams ’25, taking a shot that sailed over the crossbar.
Bruno’s break finally came in the 25th minute, when a well-timed cross from Stistrup Petersen was deflected into the path of Cloherty, who fired the ball into the bottom-right corner to open the scoring.
Penn responded with a penalty kick in the 51st minute which leveled the score at 1-1. Brown kept up the offensive pressure, getting six shots on goal overall compared to Penn’s three, but neither team found the back of the net again during regulation, forcing the match into sudden-death overtime. Although Brown created chances early in the period, it was the Quakers who scored the decisive goal just four minutes into overtime. The win punched their ticket to the Ivy League championship game.
While the loss was a bitter pill to swallow, both players and coaches took pride in a game that demonstrated the team’s growth and potential to compete at the highest level.
“I think it was one of our best performances of the year,” Cloherty wrote. “We always aim to trend upwards and it felt like we were hitting our stride in the later part of the season, which is why that overtime goal really hurt.”
For Cloherty, who scored Brown’s lone goal in what would be his final game as a Bear, pride in his performance was overshadowed by the team’s narrow loss. “I felt I had a good individual performance and scoring a goal in a semifinal was definitely a proud moment, but at the end of the day the result is what matters and it hurt to not have that goal be a deciding factor,” he wrote.
In spite of the loss, the Bears had reason to celebrate earlier in the week when All-Ivy League selections were announced. Five Bears received honors, headlined by Amaral, who led the team in both goals and assists en route to a First Team All-Ivy selection. Tanner Barry ‘25 and Stistrup Petersen were named to the Second Team, while Cloherty and Harri Sprofera ’25 were Honorable Mentions. These awards underscored the breadth of talent on this year’s squad.
Amaral attributed his individual achievements to the team’s shared efforts and determination. Although he was pleased by the recognition, he told The Herald that he expects more from himself next year. “I’m very happy about how the season went personally for myself, but I’m not satisfied with it,” he explained.
Looking ahead, he believes that this season’s bittersweet finish will motivate the team to do the hard work necessary to improve next year’s record. “The season did not end the way our team wanted it to end, but that leaves me with motivation for next season,” he wrote.
Wileman noted the team’s success in competing in the postseason and challenging for trophies. The focus now is on refining players’ skills and being ready to push forward in the fall. “This season we took more steps towards our goal of being a consistent championship program,” he wrote, adding that the program is “on the cusp of really breaking through.”
Both players and coaches believe the program is laying a solid foundation for sustained growth that will lead to even greater success in the coming seasons.
“Our team is one that is full of leaders,” Cloherty explained. “The group is hungry to win and hopefully the program can bring in guys that will do whatever it takes to win to keep us moving forward.”
Gus Bailey is a senior staff writer covering the sports beat. He is a sophomore studying applied math-economics. His interests include data analytics, marketing, social media and of course, sports.
