The Penn men's soccer team called upon its depth last night to earn a 1-0 overtime win against Mid-Atlantic rival Rutgers.
Sophomore forward and team-leading scorer David Maier netted the game-winner -- his fourth goal of the season -- just 47 seconds into the first overtime period.
"Maier's goal was awesome," sophomore midfielder Josh Duyan said. "After 90 minutes it was great to finally score."
Heading into last night's contest, the Quakers understood the importance of the game.
"Obviously it was a key game. Going on the road against Rutgers is always going to be a difficult game," Fuller said. "We knew it would set the stage for the remainder of the year."
Though Penn knew it had to come out strong, the Quakers were manhandled in the early-going. The Scarlet Knights outshot the Quakers 8-3 in the first half.
Penn goalie Matt Haefner -- who earned his Ivy League leading sixth shoutout of the season in the win -- was forced to make three first half saves to keep the game scoreless through the sluggish first half.
"We definitely didn't come out well in the first half," Fuller said. "It was probably as poor as we have played all season. We did well to get to the half at 0-0."
It looked like a different Penn team took the field in the second half, as the Quakers -- who had been on the defensive for much of the first half -- starting mounting an offensive attack of their own.
By the end of the half, Penn had fired six shots -- three more than it had attempted in the first 45 minutes.
"We came out after halftime and set things straight," Fuller said. "We were the better team to begin with. Once we realized that, the result was ours."
Despite controlling the pace of play for the majority of the second half, the Quakers were unable to capitalize on their scoring opportunities. Nonetheless, Penn felt they had a distinct advantage entering overtime.
"As the game worn on they got tired and started to run out of gas," Maier said. "When we got to overtime there was no way they were going to score on us."
Penn gave the Scarlet Knights little chance to score in the extra frame.
On Penn's first possesion sophomore midfielder Duyan dominated his defender before crossing the ball from the left side of the 18-yard box to Maier for the game-winner.
The game which ended with Maier's goal was nothing short of a physical battle. Senior co-captain Nathan Kennedy left the game with a sprained ankle, and freshman midfielder Jon Abelson was replaced after receiving an elbow to the face from a Rutgers' player.
These unexpected injuries forced Penn coach Rudy Fuller to call upon his reserves, something he has rarely done this year.
"One of the biggest differences tonight was that we had to go deep into the bench to guys who hadn't played a lot this year," Fuller said. "They came in and performed well when we were asking a lot of them. It's a good sign for us for the remainder of the season."
Penn's two key subs took place after the injuries to Kennedy and Abelson. Senior Robb Jankura filled in for Kennedy anchoring the Quakers' defense for the remainder of the match. Junior Louis Lazar entered the midfield battle in Abelson's place.
In addition to receiving a strong effort from their subs, the Quakers also received a tremendous boost in confidence from their eighth win in nine games.
"I think that Rutgers was a big game," sophomore forward Joe Klein said. "If we can beat them we can play with anyone in the country."
