PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The Yale men’s soccer team has had its share of magical moments so far in Ivy League play this fall. The opportunity was there again on Saturday at Penn, but this time the tables were turned on the Bulldogs.

Stephen Baker scored 3 minutes, 37 seconds into overtime to lift the Quakers to a 3-2 victory at Rhodes Field.

The win moved Penn into sole possession of first place with a 3-0-1 league record. Yale is three points behind at 2-1-1.

“This is not a death blow,” said Yale head coach Brian Tompkins. “It’s our first league loss. I still believe the league title is wide open. There is more good soccer to come from this [Yale] team.”

Still, it was a frustrating night for the Bulldogs, who had leads of 1-0 and 2-1 in the game.

Penn (6-6-1 overall) scored the tying goal with 3:20 left in the second half.

“It was a punch, counterpunch type of game,” Tompkins said. “They caught us with our guard down at the end of the game.”

Henry Albrecht’s first career goal off a free kick gave Yale its first lead of the night with 51 seconds left in the first half.   

Penn, though, tied it early in the second second half when Matt Poplawski headed in a Baker corner serve.

The Bulldogs answered a little over five minutes later. Albrecht was again involved in the scoring play. This time he sent a pass toward the left post that Cameron Kirdzik was able to knock it in at 57:53.

It looked like that might be the game-winner until Jonny Dolezal headed in another Baker cross with less than four minutes remaining.

The winning play in overtime came when Alec Neumann deflected a clearing attempt to Duke Lacroix who then sent a pass to Baker, and he fired it into an empty net.

Penn outshot Yale 13-12, but the Bulldogs had a 6-3 edge in corner kicks.

“We played well in large stretches,” Tompkins said.

Yale, which has a dramatic last-minute win over Harvard and an overtime victory over Dartmouth on its resume, plays its final non-league game of the season on Tuesday at Central Connecticut. The Bulldogs then finish up with three straight Ivy games – at Columbia next Saturday, home for Brown on Nov. 9 and at Princeton on Nov. 16.

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