M. Soccer seeks first win against Temple

Penn men's soccer coach Rudy Fuller is still looking for his first win. After five close road losses and over 1,000 miles logged on its charter bus to open up the '98 season, the Penn men's soccer team has finally come home to West Philadelphia. The Quakers (0-5) and their new head coach Rudy Fuller will try to break into the win column this afternoon on Rhodes Field at 3:30 p.m. against city rival Temple. "I think we're fortunate to have a game right away on Tuesday [after Saturday's 1-0 Ivy loss at Cornell]," Fuller said. "The team is a little frustrated and upset, and rightfully so, and it's good that there isn't a week off of wait." The Owls (1-5-1), who were picked to finish 10th in the Atlantic 10 this season, should be a far cry from the three top-25 non-conference foes that the Quakers have faced so far this fall. One indication of Temple's relative weakness lies in its goal differential so far this year. Whereas the Quakers have fallen to one-goal defeats in each of their three non-Ivy matches, the Owls have a startling minus-17 goal differential in their six non-league games. Temple, boasting a senior-free team, was recently shut out 5-0 by Villanova, 8-0 by Hofstra and 2-0 by Philadelphia Textile this past Tuesday. This trend bodes well for a Quakers offense which has been largely unable to finish in its previous five outings. "Temple is a very hard-working team," Fuller said. "And we still have a lot to prove to ourselves." He also stressed that statistics never tell the whole story. These numbers do, however, bode well for the winless Quakers. This game offers a golden opportunity for the team's anemic offensive output -- no second-half goals this season -- to shift into high gear. "We have really been struggling on offense, but we've been working on it recently in practice," senior midfielder and tri-captain Jared Boggs said. "It's definitely one area we need to improve upon. We're just going to go out there and play our game, and do what we have to do to win." Six Quakers remain from the team that defeated the Owls 4-1 two years ago, including junior midfielders Jason Karageorge and David Bonder and junior striker Reggie Brown. Along with Boggs and freshman Evan Anderson -- the two Quakers goal scorers so far this year -- these veterans will try to duplicate the team's effort of two years ago and jump-start the team's offense in the process. But while Temple has managed just six goals in its seven games -- with three coming in a season-opening loss to Lehigh -- the Owls will field a number of dangerous players who have no intention of being Penn's first victim. Sophomore striker Ryan Haney and junior midfielder Kevin Kelly, who played together at Philadelphia's Archbishop Ryan High School, form a potent combination up front. The duo has accounted for over 50 percent of the Owls' goals so far this September. In addition, freshman midfielder Jeff Fisher is fresh off his game-winning goal against Atlantic-10 foe St. Joseph's on September 19. If Penn junior goalie Michael O'Connor can maintain his strong play, though, this match could see the Quakers end up on the right side of a shutout. "We know it's a game where we can get ahead and we can win," junior defender Ted Lehman said. "We just need to learn to string together 90 minutes of good soccer." Today's game is the beginning of a two-week, four-game homestand for the Quakers. In contrast to their first five games of '98 -- all of which took place at least a four-hour bus ride away -- the Quakers can now enjoy the benefits of a field they've practiced on and a crowd rooting in their favor as they try to corral that elusive first victory. "Of course it's very easy to get up for a game like this," Fuller said. "It's great to be back home, and the team is very eager to play."

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