M. Soccer hopes to be unfriendly

The city of brotherly love – maybe not. In an attempt to shatter Philly's proud motto, the Penn men's soccer team (1-2 overall) – complete with its usual vigor and optimism – shuttles to Philadelphia Textile (5-1 overall) today (4 p.m.) with plans of shutting down the Rams. Last season Textile defeated Penn 3-1, in overtime. But despite this and the Quakers' recent 2-0 loss to Cornell, Penn feels that it has the ability to defeat the well-respected Rams. "We've got to get on them early and set the tone for the game," sophomore goalie Andrew Kralik said. "We'll let them know that we're here to play." Textile is coming off an impressive victory over Seton Hall, a preseason Top 20 team. The Rams, coached by former UNC-Charlotte assistant Jesse Meyers, return seven starters from a team that went 10-8-2 last year. Among them are four Philadelphia Soccer Seven all-stars – senior forward Jamie Christie, sophomore midfielder Gil Kang, sophomore defender Trip Ellis and junior goalie Peter Pappas. Unfortunately for Textile, Pappas and the team's sweeper will not play against Penn as they both received red cards in the team's last game (cause for an automatic one-game suspension). While the season is only three games deep, Penn has already developed a bad habit of missed opportunities and brief – but costly – lapses of concentration. Last week's contest against Cornell exemplified this detrimental trend as Penn players missed open shots on net, and Quaker defenders botched coverage on Cornell's first goal. Sophomore forward Pat Larco, one of Penn's most valuable players and top scorers, uncharacteristically failed to convert on his opportunities against the Big Red. "I've got to put away my chances and not choke," Larco said. "We've got to step up our level of play as a team." Just as a parent will always see the good in a child who has screwed up a bit, Penn coach George O'Neill hasn't abandoned his original contention that he has a more-than-capable team. "This team is a lot more skillful than people give them credit for, and more skillful than they give themselves credit for," O'Neill said. "I think that they need to get a couple of victories in a row to get a little confidence in themselves." Confidence will have to have precision and focus as bedfellows if Penn expects to pull out a victory against Textile. The Rams play a very fast and tough style of soccer, seldom yielding to mental mistakes. "We can't let them come in and think that they can control the game and win," Kralik said. "But they play hard and won't give you anything." Penn's offense, coming off of a lackluster performance against Cornell, looks to return to the form it had in the Quakers' 4-1 win over Villanova last week. The Quakers are – as a whole – healthy. Starting midfielder Scott Ford is still out of action, but has begun to participate in certain drills during practices. The Quakers who are on the field will try to open up things in front of the Rams' net, and let the shots fly. "We need to take more shots from the outside," sophomore midfielder Steve Marcinkiewicz said. "Our midfielders haven't been shooting, and as a result all of our chances to score have been on breakaways. If that's all they have to defend against, it makes it that much tougher for us to put the ball in the net." After all of the talk and preparation, putting the ball in the net is all that matters. If Larco's and Marcinkiewicz's words ring true today, the Quakers have a chance to pull off a crucial victory and gain some much-needed momentum heading into the heart of the season.