W. Soccer defense hoping to shut down Monmouth

Penn coach Andy Nelson hopes to see an improvement in his team's defensive effort. Nelson has brought a strong emphasis on defense to a Penn team which gave up two or more goals five times last season. That number is not bad, except when compared to the success which Nelson's Wellesley squad experienced a year ago. That team led the nation with a goals against average of .290. Although that was against Division III competition which is often inferior to typical Penn opponents, Nelson is hoping his Quakers can achieve the same kind of defensive success. Penn (1-1) will put Nelson's defensive philosophy to the test today when it travels to Monmouth to take on the Fighting Scots (2-1). Monmouth has scored eight goals in its three games, but the Quakers hope to halt that output. Last year, Penn defeated the Fighting Scots 4-0 on the strength of Andrea Callaghan's school record-tying three goals. The Quakers hope to duplicate that success against an improved Monmouth team. "This is Monmouth's biggest game of the year so far, so we're expecting to get a tough game," Nelson said. "We're going to have to come out and play better than we did last Friday against Pitt, a team we should have beaten." Nelson's defensive philosophy is focused around the use of four defenders: two central defenders and two fullbacks who play wide. This differs from a commonly-used three-defender set with two fullbacks and a sweeper. The central defenders are in charge of organizing the entire defense and will drop back during an attack, while the fullbacks play more aggressively and tend to charge the opposition. The extra defender is often released to join the offense when the ball is on the opposite side of the field. That defender is sometimes forgotten and left unmarked by the opposition, which can set up open scoring opportunities. In Sunday's 2-1 win over Maryland, defender Shannon Porter was released with less than 10 minutes to go in the game. The junior fullback was left wide open and drilled the game-winning goal from 35 yards out. "This weekend definitely cemented the comfort level of the defense," senior co-captain and central defender Deane Kocivar-Norbury said. "Before those games everyone was a little shaky but I think that we're now all on the same page." The new defensive lineup has taken some adjustment for the Quakers but it appears to have been a fairly easy transition if last weekend is any indication. Penn gave up only one goal against Pittsburgh. The goal came on a controversial penalty kick in the final minutes of the game. In the second game of the weekend, Maryland scored its only goal on an own goal deflected off a Quakers defender and into the net. "We did very well defensively this weekend," Nelson said. "The other team never scored a free goal in open play." Penn's defensive success will also depend heavily on the efforts of freshman goalkeeper Katherine Hunt, who was named the starter after the departure of senior Anne Kluetmeier from the team. Hunt is responsible for organizing the defense during corner kicks and helping arrange defenders during attacks as well. "This is a different system from anything I've played with before when there were usually two fullbacks and a sweeper," Hunt said. "It's taking us a little while to get used to the system, but it's what most of the better teams around the country are going to." The four-defender formation gets another test today against Monmouth. The current goals against average for the Quakers is one and Nelson would surely like that number to decrease this afternoon.