Penn men's soccer ready to match up with another ranked foe

When Penn men’s soccer released its schedule in June, there was a clear stretch of nonconference games that would pose trouble for the Quakers.

Now, midway through that stretch, coach Rudy Fuller stands by his logic that games against top teams can only improve his team’s performance.

When the Red and Blue (2-2) takes the field on Thursday night to face off against visiting No. 12 American, it will be the team’s third straight game against top-tier competition.

The Quakers dropped their last two games against Seattle and Washington in their west coast road trip, yet for the team it was more of a learning experience than anything else. Moving into the game against the Eagles (5-1), Penn hopes that experience will pay off.

“Without question we came back a better team than when we went out there. We were significantly more dangerous on the ball and on the attack against Washington,” Fuller said. “Now we’ve just got to make sure [Thursday] against American is better than Sunday against Washington.”

The Eagles made their way up the rankings thanks to a 2-1 OT win over then-No. 1 UCLA at a neutral site. Since then, American has been on a four-game winning streak, though none have come against ranked teams.

Leading the way has been a pair of sophomore forwards, Joe Iraola and Dale Ludwig . The duo have combined to score seven of the Eagles’ 11 goals this season, while junior goalkeeper Dylan Hobert has been solid in goal, allowing just 0.49 goals per game.

“We’ve got a great opportunity against American,” senior back Kamar Saint-Louis said.

“We’re playing them on our home field and we know what we can do as a team. We’ve already made strides the past couple games, now we just need to put it together and have a great performance on Thursday.”

Later in the weekend, the Quakers will find themselves facing local rival Temple in a game that should offer Penn a slight respite from the string of nationally-ranked foes.

Though Temple (1-3-1) has struggled for much of this season, city games always spur tough competition from familiar opponents.

“[Coach David MacWilliams] has done a phenomenal job. Him and his staff each and every year have brought in better and better players,” Fuller said. “This is a team that has a lot of depth. Like just about every other team in Philadelphia, they’re tough to break down.”

For Saint-Louis, it will be a set of familiar faces in both American and Temple uniforms. The Potomac, Md. native played with three of the probable starters for American and has a cousin playing forward for Temple.

“It’s crazy because you play with these guys growing up and college is the next step — not everyone unfortunately gets to play — it’s always a blessing to be able to be repping your school’s colors against one another,” Saint-Louis said.

“There’s a little bit of smack talk that goes on, but it’s all in good fun. I’ve known some of these guys since I was eight or nine years old.”

While the opponents may be familiar, Penn continues to focus on reaching their midseason form. This weekend will pose more tests for the team, but Fuller knew that when he built the schedule.

“We’re really trying to fine tune our sharpness on attack. Despite giving up the goals we’ve allowed, we spent a lot of time early on our shape and our defending,” Fuller said.

“In the attack, that comes slower over time with the understanding and the partnerships and the chemistry and I think we’re pretty close.”

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