M. Soccer in search of Ivy win

This past week the Big Guy (our beloved President Bill Clinton) paid a visit to the Big Apple. While the Penn men's soccer team doesn't expect the police escort or free parking, it does expect to raise some chaos of its own when it takes on Columbia tomorrow. The Quakers (0-1 Ivy League, 3-2 overall) will try to continue their winning ways as they take on the Lions (11 a.m.) in a crucial league contest. Columbia defeated Penn 1-0 (in OT) last year at River Field. "We're 0-1 in the Ivies and we really can't fall to 0-2," Penn junior defenseman Mike Leo said. "This has turned into a must-win game of sorts for us." Penn is certainly approaching the game on a high note. By defeating Lehigh 6-3 on Wednesday, the Quakers crept over .500 for the first time this season. The team has been impressive in putting together a two-game winning streak, the first win coming against then-No. 14 Philadelphia Textile (4-2). "We're on a roll right now," Penn sophomore sweeper Greg Sexton said. "This would be a great win and it would show the Ivy League that we're for real." Recently, Columbia has been on a roll of its own. Undefeated in its last three games (3-0-1), the Lions have shown that they can play some serious soccer. Successive wins against St. Mary's, Fordham and Harvard, followed by a 2-2 tie against Adelphi on Wednesday, have turned Columbia's season around. The Lions had lost their first two contests this season, falling to both Brown and San Diego. "To win this one, we've got to be on top of our game for sure," Penn assistant coach Brian Kammersgaard said. "It's always a battle up there." Columbia's team can best be described as a motley one. There are Lions from Israel, Iceland and Jamaica, as well as Beverly Hills, Calif., Seattle and New Orleans. Columbia's coach is Dieter Ficken, who is in his 15th year at the school, and is originally from Germany – surprise. Entering Wednesday's game vs. Adelphi, Lions' sophomore forward Rikki Dadason (from Mossfellsbaer, Iceland) had scored at least one goal in each of his team's last four games, giving him the team lead with five. Helping carry the scoring load has been Alon Bolokan (Petach Tikvah, Israel), who has three goals and an assist on the season. In goal for Columbia is junior Steve McAnulty (N.Y., N.Y.), who has been hot in surrendering only nine goals in over 500 minutes this season. The Lions midfield is manned by two Pennsylvania natives, sophomores Brendan Sullivan and Charles Balsamo, who played against several Penn players in high school. "We don't have to worry and concern ourselves with what they're going to do," Penn coach George O'Neill said. "We have to play our own style of pushing the ball up the field and putting it in the net." Putting the ball in the net has become a fortunate habit for the Quakers as of late. In the team's three wins, Penn has lived up to its attacking style of play, scoring 14 goals (4,4,6). But the team hasn't focused on the ones that went in the net, but rather on several missed opportunities and defensive lapses. "The keys to the game for us are to keep our concentration on offense and to tighten up the defense," Penn defenseman Keith Amen said. "We've already given up 10 goals this season and Columbia's not going to let up six goals." As far as the team is concerned, it's not what Columbia is going to give up, but rather what Penn is going to seize during it's trip to the Big Apple – a victory.

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