The Harvard men's soccer team could have dropped its third straight game, but it didn't.

Amen to that.

Yesterday in front of 400 spectators at Ohiri Field, the Crimson defeated Ivy-leading Penn, 1-0, when sophomore Jeremy Amen scored the game's only goal late in the second half.

Harvard Coach Mike Getman may not have been pleased with his squad's performance, but he was more than satisfied with the outcome.

"I'd rather not play so well and win," Getman said.

"We needed this win and we got it," Getman added. "Penn has won some very big games, and they've done well against good opponents."

Last Wednesday, Harvard (3-3 overall, 1-1 Ivy) played what Getman had considered his team's best overall team performance in a 2-1 loss to Stanford.

Yesterday, each team was unable to score until the 82:30 mark of the game, when Amen took a pass from sophomore Lenny Ilkhanoff on the right side of the goal and grounded a shot past Penn goalie Mark Tepper.

The winning play was set up when sophomore Brian Enge and senior Dave Kramer dribbled the ball past midfield on the left side of the field. Amen saw an opportunity and capitalized.

"Brian and Dave played it across," Amen said. "I saw my man slide across to help and I was open."

Junior Nick Gates passed the ball to Ilkhanoff, who poked a perfect pass towards his uncovered teammate. Amen converted, thus ending the Crimson's two-game losing streak.

The Harvard defense then held on tight for the remaining 7:30 to ice the victory. The final chance for the Quakers (2-3-1,1-1-1) occurred with 10 seconds remaining when senior Nick D'Onofrio headed a ball away from the goal, allowing the clock to run out.

Unlike Wednesday's loss to Stanford, the Crimson had trouble creating opportunities. The Quakers stifled Harvard's offense in the first half, but could not generate any offensive punch of their own, either.

"Penn played really well in the first half," Amen said. "John Shue came in in the second half and really made things happen on his side of the field."

"We were much more solid on defense," Getman said. "Josh Morris and Enge made no mistakes in the back."