Frosh to the rescue again for M. Soccer

What is the Penn men's soccer team's quick remedy to a bad game?

Put in a freshman.

It worked last weekend, and it worked again yesterday.

In Penn's game against the Philadelphia University Rams, rookie Josh Duyan did the trick.

The freshman from Portland, Ore., came off the Quakers bench and added a spark to Penn's offense.

His hard work paid off late in the second half, when he set up the Quakers' only goal against the Rams.

Penn (5-2-1) emerged victorious in its matchup against a Philadelphia Soccer Seven team, but it was a hard-fought battle that came down to the last few, dwindling minutes.

With less than 14 minutes remaining in the game, Duyan beat his defender down the right sideline and crossed the ball directly in front of the goal.

"I looked up and we had lots of runners," Duyan said. "I was lucky enough that someone could get on the end of it."

Duyan's pass found its way to outside halfback, Alex Maasry. Maasry, a junior, volleyed the ball directly into the net, giving Penn the lead for good.

"I was really focused on doing the right thing and playing really hard," Maasry said. "When Josh beat his man down the line, I was just waiting for the ball to come across. He played it perfectly, it came right to my foot and I got a good touch."

The goal came as a huge relief for the Quakers, whose offense had been struggling the entire game.

But even after the goal, the game was far from over. Penn knows what it is like to lose in the last few minutes, even seconds, as Lehigh topped the Quakers earlier this season by scoring with 10 seconds left in double overtime.

"The most important thing is that we kept them off the board to get the win," Maasry said. "We're happy with that."

Even though the Quakers emerged with the victory, it wasn't pretty. Similar to Penn's contest last weekend against Cornell, the Red and Blue dominated yesterday's game but had difficulty putting the ball in the back of the net.

"I feel very fortunate to come away with a win," Penn coach Rudy Fuller said. "But it was, by far, our poorest performance of the year in terms of how we played. I have no problem saying that if we play like that in any of our remaining games, we'll get beat by three or four goals, and the guys know that."

Penn's performance just goes to prove that the team as a whole has to play well, not just the freshmen.

Although the rookies are seeing more time and making big plays when it counts, they are not the only thing that has made the Quakers successful this season.

As Maasry and Duyan proved, balancing the veteran's experience with the rookies enthusiasm is crucial.

"I'm certainly pleased with how [the freshmen] are playing," Fuller said. "But what gets lost in the shuffle is the difference between this team and our past three years is the leadership. I think that our captains have done a very good job of setting the tone."

This weekend, the Quakers travel to New York to take on their second Ivy League foe of the season -- Columbia.

The Red and Blue are looking to turn in a better performance than yesterday's.

"It's nothing complex," Fuller said. "We have to pass the ball better and work harder off the ball to give options to our teammates. It's not brain surgery."

With the win over Philadelphia U., the Quakers extended their winning streak to three games and moved to the top of the Philadelphia Soccer Seven standings.

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