M. Soccer escapes Yale overtime scare

The fans at Rhodes Field held their breath as the men's soccer game went into overtime. They had seen the Quakers do this before, only to disappoint with losses. Saturday was different. Only 29 seconds into overtime, co-captain Steve Marcinkiewicz took a pass from Penn junior forward Pat Larco in front of the Yale goal. His shot hit the back of the net. Two overtimes later, Yale had suffered its 12th straight loss, a 3-2 setback. The Quakers and their fans could finally relax. "I almost forgot how to win," sophomore defender Alan Waxman said. "Yale thought they were going to come in and beat us. We went down twice and came back and won. We didn't hang our heads and just give up." Despite putting pressure on junior goaltender Adam Sullins early, Penn (5-7, 2-3 Ivy League) went down in the contest. Yale junior Randy Shaw scored 11:16 into the game. When freshman midfielder Jared Boggs combined with junior midfielder Brendan Sullivan to answer 12 minutes later, the team was encouraged. "Things are working out," junior midfielder Pat Brannigan said. "Balls are finally bouncing the right way. The goal in overtime was important, because it was early, and knocked Yale out of the game fast." The game was hard-fought, with Penn defenders and midfielders having to play goal as well, helping out a beleaguered co-captain Andrew Kralik. That system worked for a while. Junior defender Matt Stern made a fantastic save in the 54th minute. But Penn could only hold on so long. At 63:31, Yale forward Craig Yacks distracted Kralik, who was playing on the right side of the goal. Yacks passed the ball to defender Chad Smith, who scored on the left. "We played at times," Larco said. "We definitely had lapses, but overall it's better than our recent games. We still had opportunities to score that we missed. The difference between this game and others is we finished a higher percentage of our shots." Larco scored Penn's second goal himself. Taking a pass from Marcinkiewicz, he blew the ball past Sullins, who barely even moved. With 10 minutes left in regulation, the Quakers had come back to re-tie the game. "It was a pretty scrappy game," Penn coach George O'Neill said. "Both teams were feeling the pressure. Our guys have always put in the effort. They hung in and got it all done today." The Penn defense has been solid throughout the season. Goal scoring, however, has often deserted the Quakers. Saturday's game was different. "We scored," Sullivan said. "That's been our trouble. We got scoring from the midfield and one from the forwards. That's what we've been waiting for, goals out of the midfield. When we score we're going to win." Another key in the Penn victory was the combination of players. The Quakers managed to work together, playing the ball to each other's feet. "We were playing soccer," Waxman said. "It wasn't the prettiest soccer, but we'll take the win. We passed the ball around and played it on the ground. We've got really skilled players and we finally utilized them today." Filling in for the many missing Penn players, junior defender Gregg Sexton became a starter. He took advantage of the opportunity, and showed he deserves to continue in that role. "Gregg Sexton was the big key to our defense," Larco said. " He really stepped it up and played physical. He may be the missing link in our game." With this game, the Quakers energized themselves for the rest of the season. "We all came to play today," senior midfielder Scott Ford said. "We had to win this game to get respect out of the season. We played with determination. It's been a long time coming."