M. Soccer slain at hands of Scarlet Knights

Good-Knight, Quakers.

It looked as if the pieces were in place for the Penn men's soccer team to upset the nation's No.10 ranked Rutgers.

After having won five of their past six matches -- including a stirring victory over Yale, a team which recently has dominated the Quakers -- Penn(6-4-1) seemed to have the necessary momentum to compete with the Scarlet Knights (10-3-2).

Moreover, this match was the fourth in six days for the Scarlet Knights -- a span that saw Rutgers play at home versus Syracuse, then travel to South Carolina to take on Charleston and the University of South Carolina, and finally wind up yesterday at Rhodes Field.

A 3-1 loss for Penn yesterday, however, marked the bitter end to the Quakers' joy ride and the disappointment of their upset dreams.

"We felt like it was a golden opportunity to send a message that we let slip through our fingers," Penn coach Rudy Fuller said.

In opening minutes of the match, Rutgers' fatigue showed, as Penn quickly pressured its opponent.

Adapting a decidedly defensive style of play -- the ol' "Rope-A-Dope" approach, it seemed -- the Scarlet Knights allowed the Quakers to attack on the offensive end and maintain a large advantage in time of possession.

Controlling the ball meant numerous scoring chances for Penn, as the Quakers stormed Scarlet Knights goalkeeper JD Martin with a barrage of shots in the early minutes.

It seemed only a matter of time before the ball would strike the back of the Knights net.

It was the Knights, however, who struck first.

In the eighth minute, the Scarlet Knights' attack came to life, as Rutgers forward Todd Moser beat Penn goalkeeper Matt Haefner off of a free kick from Guy Abrahamsom.

Despite the potentially deflating goal, Penn rallied to match Rutgers evenly for the remainder of the half and headed into halftime trailing 1-0.

The Quakers looked at the second half as their chance to overtake the Scarlet Knights.

"At halftime, although we trailed, we were very confident that we would come away with a win," Fuller said. "We hadn't played at a fast pace in the first [half] and knew Rutgers was tired. [But] we came out in the second half and played as we did in the first half."

Despite the fact that Penn controlled the ball for the greater part of the second half, it was the Scarlet Knights who again did the majority of the scoring.

Particularly deflating was Rutgers' third and final goal, which effectively thwarted all hopes of a Quakers comeback.

After Rutgers scored early in the second half, Penn was able to cut the margin to 2-1 when Evan Anderson netted the ball in the 73rd minute on an assist by freshman Conor Welch.

The Scarlet Knights' defense had finally faltered, giving the Quakers what seemed to be their long-awaited opportunity to control the match.

Twenty-six seconds later, however, Penn's fate was sealed.

Off of a cross from sophomore Matt Veltri, Rutgers freshman Brian Johnson's one-timer flew past Haefner to convert the clincher.

"To give away a goal a minute after Anderson's goal was shocking, it was inexcusable," Fuller said.

The Quakers have no other option but to see the disappointing defeat in the didactic sense.

"Hopefully, we can chalk this up as a learning experience and move on," Fuller said.

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