Former club players follow m. Soccer's Fuller to Penn

Four members of the Penn men's soccer team played for Rudy Fuller in Bethesda, Md. No, Penn men's soccer coach Rudy Fuller is not a messiah. But sometimes his players cannot help but follow him. While serving as an assistant coach at Georgetown, Fuller coached a Maryland club soccer team, the Bethesda Alliance, on the side. Fuller left his coaching position at Bethesda in 1998 when he became the head coach at Penn, but he had not seen the last of some of his Bethesda players. Aaron Cohen, a wing player for Bethesda, followed Fuller to Penn that first year. And this year three more former Bethesda teammates -- William Libby, Alex Maasry and Niko Vittas -- reunited under their former coach in West Philadelphia. But this was not the same winning tradition they were used to. They came into a rebuilding program, a team that went 4-11-1 last year. The Quakers had not seen a sliver of the success of the Bethesda team that won the Maryland State Championship. But Fuller hoped by recruiting these players, Penn would not settle for second best. And the former Bethesda players knew that with Fuller at the helm, Penn would not settle for second either. "[Fuller]'s not used to losing," Libby said. "A real reason I think he brought us in is our attitude -- that winning mentality." At Bethesda, there was no shortage of the winning mentality. After all, a state championship in the under-16 division and a berth in the Region 1 Semifinals can do that to a team. But the Bethesda squad, playing one or two games a week, was about more than 90 minutes on the playing field. The four Bethesda teammates, who all lived within 20 minutes of each other, became close friends off the field as well. While the bond between these players is strong, they have shown no signs of cliquish exclusivity. "Fortunately, the team overall has bonded without those cliques forming," Fuller said. But the Bethesda players had an advantage coming into Penn that the other freshmen did not -- they knew Fuller's style and he knew how they performed on the field. "At the same time, he hasn't given any of us a preference," Cohen said. "He didn't bring us in and say that we're going to play." And not all of the former Bethesda players have played. Libby starts as a forward and Maasry started in midfield before his injury, but Cohen and Vittas have only come off the bench so far. But do the Bethesda players notice any difference between the Fuller at Penn and the Fuller at Bethesda? "He's a little more determined now because this is his job," Libby said. "His coaching philosophy is the same, though," Vittas said. "Quick soccer, one or two touches." For Vittas, Fuller and his coaching philosophy was more than just a draw to come to Penn. If not for Fuller, the Washington, D.C., native might be playing basketball or tennis instead of soccer. "He was the coach that really got me into the game of soccer," Vittas said. "I was just an athlete who played a bunch of different sports but never really picked soccer as my sport until he was my coach. He just got me really excited about the game, about my potential." Four players from one club team may sound like a lot, but the migration of Bethesda players may not be over. Laurel, Md., native Marty Shaw -- who also played on Fuller's Bethesda Alliance team -- has confirmed that Penn is actively recruiting him. No, Fuller is not a messiah. No, he's not trying to recreate heaven on earth. But he might just be recreating Bethesda along the Schuylkill. · Penn (2-4-2) will take on Philadelphia University (7-3-2) today at 3 p.m. on Rhodes Field. Philadelphia was ranked in the top 25 nationally earlier in the season but recently suffered a loss to Lafayette -- a team Penn beat 2-0 last week -- and tied Bucknell. Senior Nolan Napier and sophomore Everett Palache each have five goals for the school, formerly known as Philadelphia Textile. The Quakers have a 4-12-2 all-time against the Rams.

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