It may not be a match-up of giant heavyweights, but the Harvard men’s soccer team’s match against the University of Pennsylvania this weekend is the first hurdle toward an elusive Ivy championship for both teams.

Penn has not won since 2002—and only once since 1981—while the drought for the Crimson stretches back to 1996. Heading into the start of Ivy League play this year, both Harvard (5-2-0) and the Quakers (4-2-0) are ranked just behind Brown as favorites to contend for the title.

Currently, UPenn debuted this past week at No. 7 in the NSCAA Northeast Regional rankings, while the Crimson came in two spots behind.

But with a league opener in which the two teams will play each other, one team may be looking up at the contenders in the Ivy League and a tough road in the remaining six conference games.

“Until we play them, I can’t really comment,” said Harvard coach John Kerr when asked how his team stacked up against the other favorites. “Until you get out on the field and face them, you don’t know where you are.”

What is definite is that the Crimson is not dreading having to play one of the league’s top teams on the road in its first conference game.

“It’s a huge challenge and we are excited about it,” Kerr added. “We can’t wait to get out under the lights. Our approach and preparation has to be perfect.”

Over the last few games, Harvard has had all the preparation it should need for the important opening contest of the Ivy League season. This past Saturday, the Crimson almost upended No. 5 Duke in a 2-1 loss that went down to the wire. Also, on Tuesday, Harvard fought through an overtime contest against Vermont, and with a late goal, beat the Catamounts for the first time since 2002.

“We have used the last seven games to figure out what our team personality is,” Kerr said. “Now, our understanding of each other’s movements is good.”

Looking down the road, both the Quakers and the Crimson will have to defeat perennial powerhouse Brown.

At a brief glance, UPenn has the advantage of playing both of its main rivals at home in the friendly confines of Rhodes Field. Both Harvard and the Bears will make the long road trip down to Pennsylvania in what will serve almost as bookends to the Quakers’ Ivy slate. The Crimson will also travel down to Providence to play Brown.

“It gives them a little bit of an advantage, but over the past couple of years we have beaten Brown at their place and four years ago we beat Penn down there,” Kerr said. “We have won there, so it’s a good feeling to know that you can.”

The last two times that Harvard has played the Bears away from the friendly confines of Ohiri Field, the Crimson has come away as the victor.

Brown, in the polls and in its results, enters the middle of September as the clear favorite to defend its share of the 2005 title. The Bears, along with Yale and Dartmouth, were the winners of last season’s Ivy championship.

This season, the Bears suffered a decisive early-season loss to then-No. 3 SMU by a score of 5-1. But Brown bounced right back to battle with BU and earn a tough 1-0 victory off the foot of freshman Nick Elenz-Martin with just 26 seconds left in regulation.

The Bears are also in the “Others receiving votes” category of the NSCAA National rakings—just a bit out of 25th place.

—Staff writer Gabriel M. Velez can be reached at gmvelez@fas.harvard.edu.