Quakers knock off No. 18 Cornell

Brian Foote scores lone goal inBrian Foote scores lone goal inPenn's 1-0 upset over theBrian Foote scores lone goal inPenn's 1-0 upset over thenationally ranked Big Red As the Penn men's soccer team entered this season, coach George O'Neill knew that it would be difficult to turn the Ivy League's youngest squad into winners overnight. Sure enough, the Quakers started off the season with consecutive losses against La Salle, Dartmouth and Villanova. But on October 12, Penn had a breakthrough of sorts, defeating Columbia, 2-0. And last Friday, Penn (3-5-1, 2-2 Ivy) took this confidence one step further by knocking off No. 18 Cornell, the first-place team in the Ancient Eight. With the 1-0 victory, the Quakers gave themselves not only a shot at their first winning season since 1984, but a chance to win the conference title. The game was still scoreless when Penn goalkeeper Mike O'Conner was removed due to an injury with 13 minutes left in the second half. He was replaced by Brian Freckman. Two minutes later, with 11 minutes remaining in the game, Penn freshman midfielder Brian Foote scored the game's only goal on an assist from forward Tim Rusche, who got past his defender and took the ball up the right wing. Rusche kicked a pass across the field to the top of the 18-yard box on the far post. Foote came sliding in and booted the ball into the upper-right corner of the net. "Tim made a great play getting the ball to me in that spot," said Foote, who also scored the Quakers' only goal in their 1-1 tie against Delaware last Wednesday. "This was a big game for us," O'Neill said. "Cornell had a lot of upperclassmen on their squad, but we didn't give away anything. Now that the boys are ready both mentally and physically, I believe they can play with anybody." O'Neill was especially happy for Rusche after the team's first victory over a nationally ranked squad since last year's win against Columbia. The senior had been out for two years after a serious leg break suffered before his sophomore season. Rusche had to have a metal rod placed in his leg after that injury. "We really finished them off, which is something we weren't able to do against Delaware," said Foote, who was named Ivy League Rookie of the Week for his effort. "It was really exciting. We always knew we had the talent to beat teams like this, but we never performed up to that level." According to O'Neill, it was just a matter of time before his players put everything together. "Early in the season, the chances just weren't going in," O'Neill said. "If you don't give up, they start going in. The fellows are relaxing and finding the corners of the goal, and that's why they're starting to win. I'll be proud of them all season because they're playing hard." And that hard play is finally paying off.