Winning season may be on horizon for M. Soccer

With a win at homeWith a win at homeagainst Yale, Penn canWith a win at homeagainst Yale, Penn canguarantee a .500 seasonWith a win at homeagainst Yale, Penn canguarantee a .500 seasonrecord for the first timeWith a win at homeagainst Yale, Penn canguarantee a .500 seasonrecord for the first timesince 1984. The Penn men's soccer team heads into tomorrow afternoon's game against Yale in the midst of its first hot streak since 1984. The Quakers, whose winning seasons seem to coincide with the return of the Olympic Games to the United States, have overcome a slow start to push their record over .500 and appear to be on the way to their first winning season in the last dozen years. The game, which will take place at 1:30 p.m. at Rhodes Field, pits Penn (6-5-1, 3-2 Ivy League) against a strong Elis team that has scored and allowed 12 goals in its four Ivy League contests. "Yale has some very explosive forwards," Quakers coach George O'Neill said. "This game should be played at a fast pace. They have terrific speed up front. That's why they score so many goals. It should be exciting out there." Julio Guzman has been the most explosive forward of all for the Elis (7-5-1, 2-2). Guzman has 24 points overall and has had eight points in just four Ancient Eight games. Penn's three Ivy League victories, the first time it has reached that mark since the 1984 season, have given the team aspirations of being among the Ivy elite at season's end. "Ivy League games are special for everybody," O'Neill said. "There's a confidence factor, and there's the fact that the team that wins the Ivies gets an automatic bid to the [NCAA] tournament." Still, the coach maintains that the players are not thinking about anything other than their next game right now. "Truthfully, we're just looking to Saturday," O'Neill said. "If you start thinking about winning the Ivies and looking to see who beats Harvard and who beats that team and so on, you'll go crazy. We're going to try to improve on the things we're good at, and that's all we're thinking about right now." Of the Elis' two conference losses, one of them was a 4-3 overtime loss at Harvard. The Crimson, which has also beaten the Quakers, has a 4-1 record and are the team to beat in the Ancient Eight this year. "Yale's a good, well-coached Ivy League team, but we're expecting to win," O'Neill said. "We're playing at home and have been playing consistently well for a few games. We're looking forward to Saturday." The Quakers are hoping O'Neill's optimism is not misguided. And they're hoping that Penn will not have to wait until the Salt Lake City Olympics of 2002 to have another winning streak.