Penn shoots to end streak

Last season, Penn men's soccer's near-title run began against Cornell. In the past two years, the Penn men's soccer team has been known for its streaks. After starting the 1996 season with five losses in their first six games, the Quakers went on to win seven out of their last nine. This year the team won its first two games, including a 1-0 victory over Harvard, and has responded by losing its past six. As the Penn men's soccer team steps onto Rhodes Field Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. to take on Cornell, the Quakers will be able to shed some light on what has been a dismal season. Entering the game with a 1-1 conference record, Penn still feels they have a legitimate chance of winning the Ivy League crown. During the present losing streak, the Quakers have dealt with many issues affecting the outcomes of the games. In losing four out of the six games by one goal and the other two games by a two-goal margin, Penn blames lapses on both defense and offense. "There are spurts that we play so well, and then we lose our concentration," Penn midfielder and captain Read Goodwin said. "The thing is that we are playing well. If we can do that for a whole game, we should be able to hang with anyone we play with." Both the Penn offense and defense have had their problems during the streak. For the first four games, the Quakers' offense was unable to find the back of the net. With the return from injury of Penn's leading goal scorer, Steve Cohen, the Quakers have finally been able to put goals on the board. "Our offense has stepped it up a lot in the last few games, starting with the two goals against VCU," Quakers sophomore midfielder Brian Foote said. "Our offense is playing so much better. Now we just need to organize ourselves better, so we can get both the offensive performance and the defensive performance to compliment each other." On defense, the Quakers allowed only five goals in the first four games. In the past two games, the Penn defense allowed three goals each game. The Quakers unsuccessfully tried over the past weekend to change their defense to counteract the opposing team's offense. "Different teams are showing a different offense every time," Penn sophomore defender Tom Hughes said. "It seems to me that we have to adjust to the different teams. We are going into each game a little inexperienced, because we don't know what the other team is going to show us." Having the opportunity to start out the "new" season on a positive note, the Quakers are looking forward for the opportunity to prove that they are better than their 2-6 record. "We are definitely going to look this as a time for turning our season around," Foote said. "I don't think we are going to totally detach ourselves from the memories of what we have accomplished already." Cornell (3-2-2, 0-1) comes into the game after tying St. Francis 1-1 last Saturday. Last season, the Quakers' 1-0 victory over the Big Red started Penn's six-game winning streak. The Quakers are hoping the game will have a similar effect this year.

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