M. Soccer looks to move record above .500 mark

BY SALIM MITHABY SALIM MITHADaily Pennsylvanian Sports Writer The Quakers call it a rainout. The Penn men's soccer team was the beneficiary of some extra rain, and its weekend game against Dartmouth was postponed. The Quakers (2-2) took advantage of the rainout and used their week off in between games to gear up for their next opponent. Penn has beaten Lehigh two consecutive times, and is looking to extend the streak to three this afternoon at 3:30 p.m. at River Field. In addition to continuing their success against the Engineers (2-4-2), the Quakers are also hoping to vault above the .500 mark with a victory today. For the last five seasons, Penn has not finished with a winning record, and it believes winning today is the first step to a winning season and respectability. "They know what's at stake," Penn coach George O'Neill said. "I think they are aware of [the importance of the game]. They haven't mentioned it, but you can see it just in the way they are approaching this game. They seem confident and loose." "If we get over the .500 mark we will definitely be more respected as a team," sophomore forward Patrick Larco said. "We may be able to keep winning and maybe even get a regional ranking. As far as the team is concerned, it would also really boost morale." "We have to beat Lehigh," senior captain Mike Gomez said. "It would be a bad time to lose for us. They are a team we can definitely beat, and we need this win." Lehigh is a team that may be beatable, but at the same time, they are a squad that is unpredictable. Their volatility comes from the fact that they are a young team consisting mostly of freshmen that is still learning the ways of the college game. Due to this, the Engineers have not had high expectations for their season, preferring to be realistic instead. "We haven't done too well this year," Lehigh coach Dean Koski said. "But, we are pretty much where we expected to be at this stage. We are still young and we are still learning. Right now we are just trying to be competitive game in and game out, and to build off of every game." Ironically, though, Lehigh's volatility and inexperience are both its strengths and its weaknesses. The Engineers are counting on their youthful desire to pull out this game against the Quakers. "Our strength and weakness is the same thing," Koski said. "We're young, and that's our strength because we have a lot of exuberance and hard workers out there. But at the same time we make youthful mistakes and the only way we can get better is through experience." The Quakers realize that youth can still be dangerous. "A lot of young freshman are eager to go out to prove themselves on the field," O'Neill said. "These are the teams that worry us. We need to get on Lehigh early on, score on them early, too. This will take away their confidence, and take the vinegar out of them. If we let them settle and let them play how they want to, we will have a war on our hands. We have to go out and attack them and make them do what we want them to do." However, the question arises: is Penn ready to attack or are they stale due to the missed game? Do the Quakers still have the momentum they had built in preparation for the defending Ivy League Champions? "We didn't lose any sort of momentum," Larco assured. "I think that everything that has built up inside of us over the break – we will hopefully turn it on and take it out on Lehigh." The Penn coaches echoed this notion, and have also noticed that the players are coming together as a team. "The attitude of the guys is incredible," O'Neill said. "The intensity in practice is great to watch. They are obviously looking for better successes for themselves. They are also gelling together, and they are starting to believe that they can go farther than they are now. I think they realize how important the game is." Coming off the extended break, Penn appears confident and ready to take a step out of the mediocrity that has plagued them for five seasons. The Quakers appear to be the masters of their own destiny. "We're not concentrating on anything Lehigh is going to do," Larco said. "We are just taking the attitude that we are going to make teams have to deal with us. We are not going to change our game to suit them. We will go out and do it our style, set our tempo and score some goals." Hopefully it will not rain.