Textile game could set tone for Penn's season

M. soccer is seeking its firstM. soccer is seeking its firstwinning season since BobM. soccer is seeking its firstwinning season since BobSeddon's coaching tenure The Penn men's soccer team once again opens its season against Philadelphia Textile this year. The Quakers are hoping that, like last year, the game will set the tone for the rest of the season. Unlike last year, however, Penn hopes to leave this game with a victory, as opposed to the painful defeat it suffered one year ago. The contest between these traditional rivals will take place today at 3 p.m. at Textile. On opening day last year, the Rams beat the Quakers, 2-1, on the strength of two goals by Textile forward Patrick Morris. Insult was added to injury when Penn forward Steve Cohen suffered a concussion in a collision with Rams midfielder Drew Molineux. That game foreshadowed what was to follow for the Quakers last season. Penn went 5-11-1 overall and managed only one victory in seven Ivy League matchups. The Quakers are hoping that this season, without seven graduated players, will prove to be a turnaround year for the soccer program. Because of a deep recruiting class, the squad promises to be as talented as last year's. With the proper chemistry, that talent could translate into the Quakers' first above-.500 season since 1984. For this reason, today's game could prove to be one of the most crucial in the history of this noteworthy matchup. Penn and Textile are both members of the Soccer Seven, which also includes Drexel, La Salle, Temple, Villanova and St. Joseph's. This unofficial "conference" is soccer's version of Big Five basketball. The teams play one another every year and, along with the other seven Ivy League teams, the six other Soccer Seven teams perennially constitute a large majority of the Quakers' schedule. The Seven was formed in 1979, when Penn and Textile were both among the top-ranked teams in the nation. That was in the heyday of Bob Seddon's 19-year reign as soccer coach, a period during which the Quakers were almost continuously a nationally-ranked power. When Seddon's duties were restricted to baseball after the 1986 season, the Penn men's soccer program went into a tailspin from which it has still yet to recover. The departure of much of last year's team provides an excellent opportunity for the Quakers to have their first winning season of the post-Seddon era. A victory today would be a major step in that direction.