M. Soccer 'two' close in Fuller debut

The Penn men's soccer team lost two games by 1-0 scores in Virginia. Ten months after losing its last game of the '97 season to Princeton by a 1-0 count, the Penn men's soccer team entered the first weekend of the '98 season with a new coach, a new system of play and an almost entirely new starting line-up. Three days later, the Quakers (0-2) came away with the same old result -- two hard-fought 1-0 losses to No. 18 William & Mary (4-0) and Old Dominion (3-0). But the team is not dwelling on their early season, out of conference record, instead using the games to get into its style of play. "From all standpoints, both the team and I were pleased with how well the team played defensively," Penn coach Rudy Fuller said. The Quakers defense was the team's cornerstone over the weekend, with junior defenders Ted Lehman and Tom Hughes each making the All-Tournament team. But the Quakers' worries about the lack of a first-rate striker showed as they could not find the back of the net in last weekend's Stihl Soccer Classic in Norfolk, Va. On Friday afternoon, the Quakers knew they'd be in for a fight against the Tribe -- an NCAA tournament team a year ago that returned All-American junior goalie Adin Brown. In a defensive battle, Brown only had to make two saves, while his Quaker counterpart, junior Michael O'Connor only made one official save. The Tribe's senior striker Luke Bockelman netted a goal in the 50th minute to hand Fuller a defeat in his first game at the helm of the Penn program. Bockelman, the tournament MVP, terrorized the Quakers with eight shots on goal on the day -- four more than the Quakers as a team. Bockelman then came back to score three times in a 4-1 Tribe win over George Washington yesterday afternoon. Yesterday, facing an undefeated Old Dominion team on its home field, the Quakers again finished on the wrong end of a 1-0 result. O'Connor played well in net, saving three, but Monarchs sophomore midfielder Patrick Halter got a goal past O'Connor on a rebound in the 12th minute to provide the difference. Hampered by the ejection of senior tri-captain Jared Boggs, who was red carded for pulling down a player on a breakaway in the 14th minute, the Quakers never got a chance to press the Monarchs after being down early. The Quakers were outshot for the second straight game, this time 10-3. "After the game, the ODU coach had some glowing remarks about how we had performed playing a man down," Fuller said. "We played an even game, considering we were down a man for about 80 percent of the game." While the Quakers showed improvement on defense in both games -- bettering their 1.82 goals against per game average of a year ago -- their offense still hasn't found its touch. The Quakers' inability to net goals in four of five pre-season scrimmages, combined with the seven shots total in this tournament, indicates that the team has not completely adjusted to its new "attack-with-numbers" style. "I don't think we're doing a good job of putting our shots on target," Fuller said. Looking ahead, though, 17 field players saw action for the team, especially during the Old Dominion game, where fresh legs were at a premium. "Coming in [to this weekend] one goal? was to season the players, and get them experience at the collegiate level in preparation for next week's match at Dartmouth," Fuller said. Though this season may not be off to the best of starts, the real test of the Quakers' mettle won't come until next weekend, at the Dartmouth Umbro Tournament, in Hanover, N.H. On consecutive days, the team faces Ivy foe No. 14 Dartmouth and No. 13 Boston University. But if the Quakers can break through on the offensive end, while continuing to play the defense it displayed over the past three days, then the team should be more likely to end on the top side of future 1-0 battles.