Goals have dried up for M. Soccer

The Penn men's soccer team lack of production definitely cannot be traced to new people up front. The Penn men's soccer team came into the 1997 season as an experienced squad that had much higher expectations than any previous year. Unfortunately for the Quakers, too much time has been spent in trying to find out why those expectations have not been fulfilled. Although hundreds of plays make up one game, the ultimate factor in a game is the score. This year, the 4-8 Quakers have been outscored 19-12, including being shut out five times. With all 11 starters back from last year, Penn felt in the beginning of the season that it would continue the play it ended with last season. Except for their 5-1 loss at Princeton at the end of 1996, the Quakers scored 21 in comparison to their opponents' six during Penn's eight-game undefeated streak. One reason for the turnaround has been the change of leadership in the offense. Last season as sophomores, Morgan Blackwell and Greg Kroll led the team in goals with six and five, respectively. With Kroll leaving the team and Blackwell's injury earlier in the year, the team has had to make many changes. In the early going, Steve Cohen stepped up, earning Ivy Player of the Week honors in September with game-winners against Harvard and La Salle. Cohen currently leads the team with five goals. The Quakers feel their poor results have come from bad breaks and lapses of concentration. They feel the opportunities have been there, but they have not been capitalizing on them. "These boys are trying to score every time they go into the park," Penn coach George O'Neill said. "They are either not taking their opportunities when they should, or the goalkeepers are saving them." "I think the difference between scoring a bunch of goals and no goals is very small," Ted Lehman said. "You step it up by one or two notches and beat that man by a half of a step or happen to be in the right spot." In trying to correct its lack of output, the Quakers have moved many players into and out of the forward position. Defender Ted Lehman has also seen time on the offensive end, including when he hit the game-winner against Delaware last Wednesday. In using a formation that consists of two forwards, midfielders have also been trying to apply more pressure on the offensive end. "Your goal is to create as many opportunities as possible and to take advantage of those opportunities," Lehman said. "We're not interested in playing the ball up to the six-yard line so we can stick one in. If you have one step on your defender at the 25, then pull the trigger? We have worked a lot on moving the ball up the sidelines and having low driven balls across the box and bringing bodies in." Penn forward Matt Huebner does not feel the offense should receive the entire blame. "I don't think you can totally blame one part of the team," Huebner said. "Overall, as a team, we are not right now playing with the enthusiasm that we had last year. As a result we have not had offensive productivity or defensive for that matter." Although it would be easy for O'Neill to point fingers at particular players, the Penn coach feels the team needs to focus better and get its confidence levels back up. "It's all about their concentration," O'Neill said. "It's all about getting mentally ready for the game. You have to be mentally ready when you get out in the park and are moving the ball around." Penn feels they have been able to compete with every team they have played this year, but the score has been the bottom line. "We can play with and can beat any team we stop on the field with," Lehman said. "The fact is that we did not step up and do it. You can talk all day long about what could have been and should have been, but when it comes down to it, you have to be able to step onto the field and do it." With a 2-0 victory against St. Joseph's, the Quakers have shown they are not going to put the season to rest quite yet. "We are playing for ourselves to prove to ourselves that we could have had a good season," Huebner said. "There is no question about the ability of the team. We don't have much to lose."

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