After going 0-7 in Ivy League play last year, the men’s soccer team really wanted things to be different this year and that desire showed. The Red kicked off the Ivy League portion of its season with an emotional and physical 2-2 tie on Saturday night at Penn, a fiery match in which 11 penalty cards were issued, including three red cards. With all the game’s scoring coming in the second half, Cornell received goals from sophomores Chase Aaronson and Kyle Parsons to earn a draw against the Quakers, last year’s Ivy League champions.

This game marked new head coach Jaro Zawislan’s Ivy League debut and he definitely made it a memorable one. Zawislan was the recipient of one of three red cards, as he was ejected from the game in the second overtime period.

“Coach [Zawislan] was just looking out for our players,” said junior midfielder Scott Caldwell. “He saw the game getting a little rough and he just wanted to make sure the players were being protected. He was getting at the referee a little bit ... but coach just had our best interest in mind and was trying to keep us safe. The ref, I guess, just thought that he was overstepping.”

The Quakers (3-3-3, 0-0-1 Ivy) controlled the play for the majority of the opening minutes. Red (4-3-2, 0-0-1 Ivy) senior midfielder J.J. Bain explained that his team was forced to fight hard just to come out of the first half with the score at 0-0.

“I would say I’m proud of the way we responded after the first 20 minutes because we absorbed a lot of pressure,” Bain said. “We didn’t resign ourselves to their pressure. We took the momentum back. In terms of how we fought and dealt with the calls and the physicality of the game, I was proud.”

After a scoreless first half, in which each team had just one significant scoring opportunity, the game took a turn for the wild in the second half. Aaronson opened the scoring for the Red just three minutes in to the second half after receiving a pass from senior forward Matt Bouraee. Freshman defender Ben Kenyon also earned an assist on the play.Crazy insane: The Red’s tie at Penn on Saturday was punctuated by 11 cards, including three expulsions.

However, Cornell squandered the lead just 10 minutes later as Penn forward Christian Barreiro made good on a penalty kick after a Red defender was called for a foul in the box, tying the game at 1.

In the 72nd minute of the game, the emotional fireworks were completely set off, as Penn captain Lee Rubenstein was whistled for a straight red card on a tackle near midfield. That call evoked huge jeers of disapproval from the home crowd and the Penn bench alike. As play resumed, the Red was soon able to take advantage of the extra man and restore its lead. Junior Scott Caldwell sent a soaring cross from the left side of the pitch to Parsons, who connected with a diving header to put the ball past Quaker goalkeeper Ben Berg in the 75th minute.

“I did an overlap run from J.J. [Bain] along the side, J.J. played me in and I just crossed it over the box and Kyle Parsons was right there to put it in,” Caldwell said. “It was a great header.”

Bain explains that when playing with the man advantage, the Red just stuck to its game plan in order to expose Penn’s newfound vulnerability.

“I don’t think our strategy changed at all,” Bain said. “We just knew that their back line wasn’t going to be able to cover as well. So our strategy didn’t change, we just got a lot more opportunities, and we scored pretty quickly after that red card.”

Playing a man down, Penn quickly responded and once again erased a one-goal Cornell lead. Just five minutes after the Red went up 2-1, Quaker forward Tobi Olopade dissected two Cornell defenders with a pass that sprung midfielder Alex Takakuwa free on a breakaway. As Cornell goalkeeper Scott Brody came out of the net to challenge the attacker, Takakuwa lofted a shot over Brody’s left shoulder and into the back of the net, tying the game at 2.

Takakuwa’s goal sent the game into overtime, which was unable to break the tie. However, the flurry of whistles and cards continued into the extra period, as junior forward Brett Sumpio was issued his second yellow card of the match in the second overtime period, putting the Red down to 10 men as well. Soon thereafter, Zawislan was given his red card as well. Despite testing Berg with strong chances twice in the second overtime frame, the game came to a close with the score knotted at 2.

“It definitely gives us a lot of momentum, tying the Ivy League champs of last year,” Caldwell explained. “Of course, we wanted to get a win. We were a little disappointed that we let them back in the game two times after having the lead.”

With the tie, the Red moves to on the 2009 season as the squad will return to Ivy League action on Saturday when Harvard comes to Ithaca. The Red players believe that the game at Penn will serve as valuable experience moving forward into the rest of the Ivy League schedule.

“This was a conference game,” Caldwell said. “For any game in the Ivy League, the adrenaline will be pumping and the teams are really fighting for a win. It just kind of escalates a little bit. It’s a lot more intense in the Ivy League.”