Quakers enter win column with victory over Dragons

Morgan Blackwell scores his second and third goalsMorgan Blackwell scores his second and third goalsof the season in overtime win against Drexel The Penn men's soccer team was not wearing its usual despondent face after Sunday's game. The players were actually smiling. They were giddy. They were bouncing. Bouncing out of a losing streak that is. For the first 60 minutes of the game, the team played as usual -- scoreless soccer. Then, Ted Lehman bounced a ball off of Penn forward Morgan Blackwell's head, and the fun began. The Quakers recorded their first win Sunday against Drexel, defeating the Dragons, 2-1, in overtime. The victory improved the Quakers' record to 1-3. Penn coach George O'Neill said he was"delighted," with the victory and that "it was long overdue." After the scoreless first half, Blackwell scored in the 63rd minute. A header off of a long pass from Ted Lehman broke the 0-0 tie and gave Penn its second goal of the season. The Quakers then attempted unsuccessfully to shut the Dragons out for the remaining 26 minutes of the game. With less than two minutes remaining in regulation, Drexel forward Adam Greene scored after drawing Penn goalie Mike O'Connor out of the goal. The Quakers then held the tie and went into overtime. Penn came out strong in the extra session. "We definitely outplayed Drexel in overtime," Blackwell said. The decisive goal was scored with 11 minutes remaining in overtime. Blackwell fired a solo shot from about five feet out to secure the lead. The Penn forward's second goal of the game ended the scoring for the day. Blackwell, with one goal against Villanova and two against Drexel, has been the team's only scorer. Quakers' goalie Mike O'Connor added another start to his soccer career at Penn, but was challenged with 15 shots, of which he saved four. "I don't remember that many shots, except for the goal," O'Connor said. "There were a lot of crosses. It was all in the air." Penn's offense outshot Drexel 26 shots to 15 shots. But Drexel did dominate the game at times. "We got penned in for awhile there," O'Neill said about the Dragon's offensive pressure. "And we got beat on two or three occasions." "We tend to loose focus for a little bit," Blackwell said. "Drexel was beating us to the ball for parts of the game." The midfield and defense have been the two most troublesome spots for the Quakers. But Sunday, they seem to have pulled themselves together. "Everyone played really well today," O'Connor said. "Especially the midfield, they really improved their play. "Everyone stepped up their play today. As soon as we went into overtime, we knew we needed a win and everyone stepped it up."