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The Penn men's soccer team, 6-10-1 a year ago, practices on Rhodes Field in preparation for the fall season. Penn plays its opening contest at Lafayette this Friday at 8 p.m. [Ben Rosenau/The Daily Pennsylvanian]

Preseason practices for the Penn men's soccer team this year began with a week of grueling 8 a.m. sessions. As the sun was rising, innumerable skill and conditioning drills served as the Quakers' wakeup call -- a wakeup call that has been a long time coming for the perennial doormats of the Ivy League.

Penn showed signs of waking up last season, as its 6-10-1 overall record marked the highest win total for the Quakers in the past three years.

The promise of a turnaround from Ivy cellar-dweller to Ivy challenger was further realized on Nov. 11, when Penn captured its first Ancient Eight victory of the 2000 campaign, a 2-1 victory over Harvard in its final match of the season.

The win over the Crimson snapped a 26-game losing streak in the Ivy League and also marked the first conference victory in Penn head coach Rudy Fuller's four-year tenure.

The Quakers return nine starters from that team, and now also boast a formidable 14-man freshman class.

Anchoring the Red and Blue will be a triumvirate of senior captains -- John Salvucci, Sam Chamovitz and Evan Anderson.

"This is clearly the best group of leaders that we have had in my time at Penn," Fuller said.

With the influx of talent from the freshman class, the past few weeks have been marked by heated competition for starting positions.

"The preseason has let the players dictate to the coaching staff by their play who wants to be on the field," Fuller said. "We feel a lot better about ourselves from top to bottom. With a number of freshmen in the mix and a strong group of upperclassmen, we have the ability to put a very good, very talented team on the field."

Up front, Penn returns its top two goal scorers, Chamovitz and junior Billy Libby. In addition, freshman standouts Joe Klein and Parade Magazine All-American David Maier have impressed in preseason workouts and look to have earned significant playing time.

"Klein and Maier have just clicked together from the beginning," Fuller said. "They really look great together."

In the midfield, sophomore Louis Lazar -- Penn's Rookie of the Year last season -- and junior Nathan Kennedy will once again anchor the Quakers' attack.

"We have a really strong midfield and a lot of talent up front," Lazar said. "This should translate into a lot of goals being scored."

Salvucci and Anderson will work together to fill the void on defense left by the graduation of last season's starting sweeper, All-Ivy League selection and leading scorer, Henry Chen.

Rounding out the core of the defensive unit, juniors Will Lee and Chris Kan will both look to return to their starting spots from a year ago.

Challenging the Quakers' starters will be returning reserves -- juniors Robb Jankura, Eric Mandel and Niko Vittas and sophomore Ross Chanin -- and a talented crop of newcomers, including highly touted freshman Chris Fisher.

"We knew Fisher was a talented prospect," Fuller said. "He has lived up to expectations thus far."

Senior goalkeeper Jeff Groeber will once again man the net for the Quakers.

On the sidelines, Fuller returns for his fourth season with the Red and Blue. This year, he will be joined by two new assistants, Bob Butehorn and Rob Vartughian.

Butehorn coached St. Bonaventure's from 1995-1999, leading the Bonnies to a regional and national ranking.

"Bob and Rudy complement each other really well," Chamovitz said. "They have very different styles. While Bob is really outgoing, Rudy is more reserved and laid back."

"I believe we have one of the best coaching staffs in the country," Fuller added.

The Quakers' confidence was somewhat justified following an impressive showing at the Mercer Cup, Penn's only preseason tournament.

After dismantling the College of New Jersey, 3-0, in the opening round, Penn tied Ivy League foe Princeton in the championship match, 0-0.

"We've got all the ingredients to compete," Chamovitz said. "There's no reason why we shouldn't win some games and make some noise.

"If we keep our focus and continue to work as a team, this has the potential to be a tremendous season."

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