On Saturday, the men’s soccer team (6-7-2, 2-4-1 Ivy) suffered a 1-0 loss at Yale (3-9-3, 2-4-1) in the last match of the regular season, crushing any hope of qualifying for the Ivy League Tournament.
Last weekend, Bruno edged ahead of Columbia (3-8-4, 1-5-1) 1-0 to stay in contention for the postseason. But following Saturday’s loss, they ended the regular season at fifth in the Ivy League standings, just 1 point behind fourth-place Harvard.
“Disappointing night tonight, and disappointing season overall,” Head Coach Chase Wileman said in a post-match interview with Brown Athletics. “It hasn’t been good enough, and it is my responsibility, which I own.”
With one final chance to qualify for the Ivy League Tournament, the Bears’ offense started the match swinging. In the fifth minute of the game, a foul on Lorenzo Amaral ’27 gave him a chance to take a free kick. Amaral launched the ball from the left side into the center of the box, where Jamin Gogo Peters ’26 met it with a header that sailed just over the goal, tallying the first shot of the match.
Twelve minutes later, Amaral once again gained possession of the ball inside the box, searching for a chance to shoot, despite the three Yale defenders crowding him. Spotting a narrow gap, he sent a bullet straight toward the goal, but Yale’s goalkeeper deftly snatched it up.
But the momentum quickly shifted in Yale’s favor — the Bulldogs tallied the only 5 attempts over the next 15 minutes. But Bruno goalie Henrik Weiper ’26 delivered 2 saves to keep the game scoreless.
In the last 3 minutes of the half, Brown made a push to pull ahead.
Chasing down a long ball, Timi Browne ’28 raced into the goal area, catching Yale’s defense off guard. Browne sent a rocket toward the bottom left corner, but Yale’s goalie deflected it. Continuing the push, Browne followed up with another attempt, which was stopped by a decisive catch from Yale’s goalie.
Undeterred, Brown continued to attack into the last minute of the half. After a long goal kick by Weiper, Mads Stistrup Peterson ’26 raced down the left side, weaving toward the center of the box. Just 15 seconds from the end of the half, he sent the ball curling left over the heads of Yale’s defenders. But it sailed inches over the crossbar, sending the game into the break with no points on the scoreboard.
The second half began with an early setback for Bruno — Iyke Dafe ’27 received his second yellow card in the 53rd minute, resulting in a red card and leaving the Bears down to 10 players for the remainder of the match.
Yale kept up the pressure— tallying 4 shots over the next 17 minutes — but in the 70th minute, Gogo Peters was able to challenge the Bulldogs.
He raced with the ball from down the left flank, and sent a shot from the corner of the box that sailed just high of the goal. Over the next 8 minutes, he made 2 more attempts that were deflected by defenders.
But in the 79th minute, a foul was called on Zion Wharton ’27, and Yale received a penalty kick. Facing Yale’s captain Diego Zaffanella one-on-one, Weiper dove to the right, just narrowly missing the ball as it slid under his arm and into the back of the net, giving the Bulldogs a late 1-0 lead.
With just 10 minutes left to save the game, Brown launched an aggressive attack for a last-ditch shot at the Ivy tournament. If the team lost, this would be the first time since the tournament was founded in 2023 that Brown did not qualify for it.
In the 84th minute, Amaral’s shot from the left side deflected off a Yale defender, earning Brown a corner kick. The ball curled toward the goal but bounced off the crossbar.
Over the next 3 minutes, Bruno did not give up, tallying a shot by Stefano D’Agostini ’28, which sailed high, and another by Amaral that veered wide right. With just 2 minutes on the clock, Langdon Gryglas ’26 sent a final attempt that was blocked by defenders.
Yale’s defense easily handled the onslaught, ending the Bears’ season.
“The game was going both ways in the beginning, we were able to get some good attacks but not able to capitalize,” Amaral wrote in an email to The Herald. “Yale had their one opportunity with the penalty and made it count.”
“I think we just have to continue to keep our heads high and keep pushing,” he added. “We did not meet the target we wanted to achieve so now it’s time for us to work on ways to get better for the next season.”
