`Gentle giant' Haefner key in M. Soccer win

With the help of sophomore Matt Haefner, Penn's recently promoted keeper, the Quakers (2-2-1) recorded their first shutout of the season in a 2-0 win over Temple (1-4-1) at Temple Stadium yesterday.

Haefner stepped in as Penn's starting goalie after senior Jeff Groeber dropped out with a season-ending knee injury.

And yesterday, Haefner certainly proved that he could fill Groeber's shoes.

Haefner refused to let Temple sneak a shot into the back of the net, ultimately finishing the game with seven saves.

"Matt's doing really well," Penn coach Rudy Fuller said. "In three games, he's 2-0-1. That's the bottom line."

Haefner, who saw minutes in only one game last year, is enjoying the increase in playing time.

"Last year was tough," Haefner said. "I don't think I really improved. This year I'm in my best form and condition. I've definitely improved a ton in the past month."

Since the keeper controls the backfield and, therefore, the defense, it is imperative that a team has confidence and trust in its goalie.

But even though Haefner is still relatively new, the Quakers already feel comfortable with him. The 6'4", shaved-head native of Amherst, N.Y., has come up very big in recent games.

"He's a gentle giant," Penn freshman Joe Klein said. "He's intimidating. I feel confident in him back there and I think the rest of the team does too."

Both Haefner and his teammates agree that yesterday's win was only a step in the right direction.

"Temple wasn't the greatest," Haefner said. "But we possessed the ball a lot and moved the ball around quickly. When we do that, we're successful."

The Quakers were also successful because of their offensive effort.

Senior captain Sam Chamovitz took the pressure off Haefner when he scored the first goal of the game, unassisted, at the 18:56 mark of the first half.

The two teams went back and forth throughout the second half.

Deep into the second half, with just under three minutes to play, freshman Joe Klein found the back of the net, blasting a shot past Temple's keeper, Patrick Hannigan.

"Our strengths today were certainly that Joe Klein and Sam Chamovitz both got goals," Fuller said. "Its always good to keep having your forwards get the ball in the back of the net."

The Quakers only outshot the Owls by one goal, but the goalies' play made all of the difference.

"Today was very good," Haefner said. "Every game I play, my level goes up and I get more comfortable."

There are still some things that the team has to work on as a whole in order to beat their tough Ivy League opponents.

"We certainly have some much tougher games ahead of us," Fuller said. "We need to do better at keeping possession and playing strong defense."

But Haefner and the rest of the Penn squad are only expecting the rest of the season to get better.

"If we play 90 minutes, we could potentially beat anybody," Haefner said.

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