No Louis Lazar, no problem.
Minus the 2000 Penn Rookie of the Year and starting center midfielder -- who was sidelined with a quadricep injury suffered in last Thursday's 2-0 victory over Temple -- the Penn men's soccer team continued its recent dominance of intra-city opponents.
The Quakers extended their unbeaten streak to four matches with a 2-1 defeat of Drexel (4-3) in Saturday's home opener at Rhodes Field.
"Louie is a real tough player to lose," Penn coach Rudy Fuller said. "He's been the center of our midfield for two years now. Fortunately, we had a young man, Stephen Kroculick, who was able to step in."
It was the rookie Kroculick, in his first start for the Quakers, who scored the decisive goal with 10 minutes remaining in the match.
With the score tied at one, fellow freshman standout Joe Klein crossed the ball to a waiting Kroculick.
Kroculick one-timed the pass from Klein, firing the game-winning shot past Drexel goalkeeper Jim Greco from 10 yards out.
"The keeper had no chance," said Kroculick, a Delran, N.J. native, who has worn a protective cast on his right arm for the entire season.
En route to the upset, the NSCAA's Mid-Atlantic region ninth-ranked Quakers got on the scoreboard early yesterday against the No. 7 Dragons.
Senior tri-captain Sam Chamovitz netted the match's first goal and his fourth of the season, scoring an unassisted goal 10 minutes into the match.
"We did well starting out early and putting the pressure on them," Fuller said. "Sam's goal was big for us."
The Red and Blue squandered their one-goal advantage in the second half, as Drexel's Jim Costello scored the equalizer, beating Penn goalie Matt Haefner.
"The tying goal that they scored shook us up a bit," Fuller said. "But we came back and responded real well."
The Dragons' goal would only set the stage for Kroculick's game-winner.
"First collegiate goal, first collegiate start," Kroculick said. "It all came together with the goal."
Kroculick's goal served as the capstone for what has already been a season highlighted by the standout play of Penn's deep and talented freshman class.
Klein ranks second on the team in goals and points, trailing only Chamovitz. In addition, Klein and Kroculick rank third and fourth, respectively, on the Quakers in shots on goal.
At one point in yesterday's game, half of the players on the field for the Red and Blue were rookies. Besides Kroculick and Klein, freshmen Brian Candler, Chris Fisher and David Maier also made their way into the Penn lineup.
"It seems like our depth is really starting to show," Fuller said. "With the freshmen's strong play and our upperclassmen continuing to play real well, we have guys who are stepping into spots when we need them to.
"We have our deepest squad in years."
With the contributions of the freshmen and the continual strong play of its iron-curtain defensive unit -- anchored by senior tri-captain John Salvucci and junior Nathan Kennedy -- the Quakers (3-2-1) displayed the near-complete-game effort that the team had discussed in the days preceding yesterday's match.
"This was definitely the closest that we've come to keeping our intensity up for a full 90-minute game," Fuller said. "This was our best performance from start to finish."
