For Penn sports fans, Ivy season is one of the best parts of fall, but for the teams it is often one of the most stressful. Such will be the case this weekend when Penn men’s soccer continues Ivy League play this Saturday against Columbia.
The Lions (3-4, 0-1 Ivy) will be a challenge for the Quakers, but the team remains confident. Coach Rudy Fuller acknowledged the challenges facing Penn (5-4, 1-0) and admitted that the game will likely be close.
“It’s going to be a very similar game. I think that all the games from here on out are going to be a similar type of feel: tight, close, we’re going have to be good, ” he said.
“Columbia dropped their first game so they’re going to bring a little more because they can’t afford another loss, so we’ve got to be ready to go.”
Penn has looked strong in its past two games, beating Saint Joseph’s in overtime on Tuesday to win the Philadelphia Soccer Six. On Saturday, the team took down Cornell in its first taste of Ivy League play this season after a beautiful free kick from junior midfielder Forrest Clancy . Between the two games, Penn only allowed one goal.
For the team, one of the strengths throughout the season has been the leadership from the veterans and knowledge of what to work on in preparation for the next game. Senior forward Duke Lacroix , the team’s co-leading goal scorer, said that he felt the team needed to work on finishing games stronger.
“I think we did a good job with it, but we need to continue getting better at closing out games. Cornell put a lot of pressure on us later in the game after we put up the first [goal], ” he said.
“We need to push forward to get the second one as well. Closing out each game is going to get tougher and tougher. We have the opportunities to score goals, we just need to try and push forward and score another goal and play sound defense.”
Fuller sees Columbia as a tough opponent, one complete with versatile players and a balanced attack. Freshman forward Francisco Agrest has led the way thus far with three goals, while seven other Lions players have also found the back of the net.
“They have a lot of dynamic guys, and they are very similar to us in how they like to play, ” Fuller said. “They’re a good soccer team. They can break you down with their possessions. They have some individuals that can score goals and win games. We’re going to have to continue to be really good defensively.”
In terms of preparation, Penn sees it as just another game. This week of practice will be just like any other.
“If there is a focus, it’s being good defensively higher up the field and winning position in better spots, ” Fuller said. “We have a really good picture of how we play when we’re successful and what we need to know, and it’s about focusing on those things.”
The team looks forward to playing its first home Ivy game of the season but admits that it doesn’t make the game easy by any means.
“We feel very comfortable on our home field ,” Fuller said. “It’s not going to make the game against Columbia easy, but we enjoy playing on our home field in front of our home fans.”
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