Surging Penn set for Owls

The Quakers look toThe Quakers look tocontinue their five-The Quakers look tocontinue their five-game unbeaten streakThe Quakers look tocontinue their five-game unbeaten streakwhen they face Temple. With its recent success in the Ivy League, the Penn men's soccer team hopes to continue its recent winning ways in the Philadelphia Soccer Seven. The next obstacle the Quakers will face will be cross-town rival Temple this afternoon on Rhodes Field at 2 p.m. Penn (5-5-1) is hoping to continue to ride its new-found offense. In their first six games of the season, the Quakers recorded a meager total of three goals. But the Penn offense has erupted for 10 goals over the Quakers' current five-game undefeated streak. However, in last Friday's 3-0 win over Brown, Penn was shut out for more than 70 minutes. Although a late-game three-goal explosion saved Penn's streak, the Quakers have no interest in allowing future games to go down to the wire. "We're going to try to put the ball away a little earlier than we did against Brown," Penn freshman midfielder Brian Foote said. "We want to score early and often." In stark contrast with the Quakers' sudden emergence, Temple's season has been marred by inconsistency. According to Penn coach George O'Neill, the Owls are well coached and have potential but just haven't been able to convert that into many victories. "Temple's had an up-and-down season," O'Neill said. "Sometimes things just don't work out. Temple will be ready to play. This is a big game for them." O'Neill's strategy is a simple one: keep doing what they've been doing, namely scoring goals and pitching shutouts. Freshman goalkeeper Michael O'Connor has only allowed one goal in the past three games. "It's something that we're good at doing," O'Neill said. "We'll try to stay with that while its working." With five games left in the season and a .500 record, Penn is looking to extend its undefeated streak to six games. Temple is the next step to building a winning record after a rocky first half of the season. "It's a really important game," Quakers forward Timmy Rusche said. "We want to keep our momentum going."