It looked for a while as if either Penn or Harvard would run away with the Ivy League soccer crown. But with last Saturday's 1-1 deadlock between the two teams the race has suddenly become much tighter.

The Crimson and the Quakers are tied for first with 3-0-1 records and seven points, while Brown is hanging close behind with a 3-1-0 record and six points. Brown, after suffering two straight non-league losses, took out their frustration on Princeton Saturday, mauling the Tigers 8-1.

The Bruins took an early 1-0 lead in the first half and it looked to be a close match. But before the half was over. Brown halfback Bill Frost scored two goals and assisted on a third within the span of five minutes in break the game open.

John Drew, who is among the league's top ten scorers, tallied twice for the Bruins as did co-captain Dick McEvoy, Jell Frey and George Kapner had the other Brown goals while Ralph Sobel was the lotic Princeton scorer.

The Bruins bombarded the Princeton-defense with 54 shots, while the hapless Tigers could manage just five, Princeton meets Harvard this Saturday and will be looking to redeem itself from last week's humiliation. The Crimson take on Brown on November 18 in a game that will be key to both club's chances of winning the Ivy crown.

Cornell, 2-2-0, moved into a tie for fourth by downing Columbia, 4-1, in New York. Cornell took a 2-0 halftime lead on goals by Chris Agoliati and Victor Huerta. Columbia cut the lead to one, on an unassisted goal by Anton Zaumer midway through the second half, but unassisted across by Huerts and Mike Pilarz put the game on ice for Cornell.

Lion's goalie, Mark Mogul, was forced to make 16 saves, while the Big Red netminder, Bruce Arena, had to stop only three.

Yale Triumphant

Yale shares the fourth spot with the Big Red after shutting out Dartmouth, 3-0. The Elis, who had scored only two goals in their first three games, got some of fensive power from John Ormasa and Chris Coxe.

Ormasa gave Yale a 1-0 first half lead, then got the actual game winner in the second half. Each team had 16 shots with the goalies, Mark Porto of Dartmouth and Ken Pasternak of Yale, making eight saves apiece.

The Crimson, who are hurting after last week's game, take on Tufts today in a non-league game. The match had to be rescheduled from yesterday due to rain. Harvard then moves on to play Princeton, Brown and Yale in games that could decide the Ivy soccer crown.