Penn soccer's Max Polkinhorne is seized by the spirit of competition

Most top athletes are hard on themselves and hyper-competitive.

And then there’s Penn men’s soccer goalkeeper Max Polkinhorne .

“I’m super competitive,” he said. “I have — I don’t want to say misguided — but high expectations for myself at all times.”

When he took the pitch as a sophomore early in the second half against Princeton last fall, the timing was perfect.

Senior goalkeeper Tyler Kinn had just gone down with an ankle injury and the Quakers were tied 1-1 with Ivy League rival Princeton. Even more important, a win would put the Red and Blue in position for a de-facto Ivy title game with Harvard to end the season.

“[Tyler and I] were both on the same page about it, someone needed to do the job,” Polkinhorne said.

“Someone [was] going to walk on the field and do it and it just happened to be me at that point.”

And that’s exactly what Polkinhorne did. Forty-two minutes, four saves and a Sam Hayward goal later, the Quakers were out of trouble and on to Harvard.

The rest is history. Polkinhorne would go on to put up a clean sheet against the Crimson as Penn fought to an Ivy title.

Polkinhorne and the Quakers would lose their first round NCAA tournament game in penalty kicks to Providence, but it was clear the team had a goalie for the future.

“He performed exceptionally,” coach Rudy Fuller said. “He had a really good end to the year and established himself within our team.”

A Portola Valley, Calif. native, Polkinhorne landed at Santa Clara to start his college career. Though close to home and playing with some familiar faces, transferring was nearly immediately on the goalkeeper’s mind.

“I was looking to transfer in the first place. I liked Santa Clara and it was a good school,” Polkinhorne said. “It was really close to home for me and I needed a little bit of change of scenery.”

After a series of calls to other coaches on the East Coast and productive conversations with Fuller, Polkinhorne found himself headed to Philadelphia the following season.

Immediately upon arriving, it was clear there was going to be a competition over the starting goalkeeper position.

In 2013, the Quakers entered camp with two goalkeepers, Kinn and Polkinhorne. Though Kinn was a senior, he had only started in four games the prior season and didn’t have a lock on the starting job.

“Tyler’s a great goalkeeper. It was nice, the fact that we’re both West Coast kids,” Polkinhorne said.

“We got along really well, which I think a lot of people think is difficult when you’re working with another goalkeeper. With me and Tyler, I think we built off of each other really well.”

In the early season, Kinn put together some strong starts, yet Polkinhorne found himself between the bars for two midseason starts against Drexel and Cornell.

After Polkinhorne suffered a minor injury against Cornell, it was back to Kinn until the fateful game against Princeton.

Polkinhorne finished the season with a .917 save percentage and allowed just three goals over the course of nearly 422 minutes.

Most importantly, he was comfortable under pressure.

“See the thing is, I love that. The more people screaming at me and calling me names, the better,” Polkinhorne said. “I really enjoy those big games and getting to be a part of it.”

This season has been a tough one thus far for the goalkeeper, as Penn has faced a pair of top 12 teams and two other NCAA tournament teams in its first six games.

Fuller and the team hope the tough nonconference schedule will lead to more of those big games that Polkinhorne seems to love.

Looking into his continual improvement, Polkinhorne has one clear focus: staying more calm.

“I’m a little hard on myself on the field and in practice ... But it’s made me the goalie I am today.”

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