It took 22 years for the Penn men's soccer team to win their most recent Ivy League championship. Penn coach Rudy Fuller does not intend to wait that long for the next one.
Fuller has brought in six new players from five different states, including a transfer from the University of Washington.
"We're obviously very pleased with the class overall," Fuller said. "There is quality from top to bottom."
Fuller shares with Penn women's soccer coach Darren Ambrose the experience of having brought in unusually large numbers of recruits over the last few years. But, like Ambrose, he has been able to bring in what might be considered a "normal" recruiting class this year, and has a very solid base into which he can bring his new players.
"When I arrived five years ago the program needed a lot of work," Fuller said. "In order to build the foundation you have got to bring in larger classes than you normally would because you need players, you need numbers."
For Fuller, the team's goals have gone from "trying to just jumpstart the program" to "a point where we can start to recruit based on what we are losing."
Arthur Bartholomew, a midfielder from Swarthmore, Pa., native, comes to Penn by way of the prestigious IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.
Bartholomew is the second graduate of the prestigious soccer program to come to Penn, following backup goalkeeper Robert Lockwood, who writes for the Daily Pennsylvanian.
Other recent IMG graduates include Jonathan Spector, who is currently training with Manchester United, and phenom Freddy Adu, who just signed a contract with Nike and is expected to join Major League Soccer next year.
Although goalkeeper Garret Herfkens, from Stanford, Calif., will find himself third on the depth chart behind Lockwood and Honorable Mention All-American Matt Haefner, he brings impressive credentials at a position that is always in demand. Herfkens led his club team to two Central Coast Division Championships and was named Goalkeeper of the Year by the San Jose Mercury News.
Charles Howard continues the line of Quakers to come from Portland, Oregon. The defender follows Lockwood, junior Joshua Duyan, and Nathan Kennedy, who graduated this year. With Jesuit High School, he won three state championships and earned his team a national ranking three of his four years there.
Derrick Jumper will bring speed, size, and a Texan spirit to the Penn attack. Jumper, a forward, captained the Greenhill school in Dallas to the Texas state title his senior year with 40 goals and was the first athlete from his school in any sport to be named All-North Texas. He was elected team captain in his sophomore year and spent his junior year at IMG Academy.
Charles Snyder will join his sister Rachelle, who plays for the Penn women's soccer team, at Rhodes Field by way of La Jolla High School in San Diego. The midfielder won All-League honors three times and led his team in scoring his sophomore through senior years.
Midfielder Ryan Tracy completes the Penn Class of 2007. The Newtown, Conn. native led his high school to two consecutive conference championships and earned his team a No. 2 ranking nationally from the NSCAA.
Fuller does not discount the possibility of any of them cracking the starting eleven.
"It wouldn't surprise me if any of them were able to step in and play a good amount of minutes this fall," he said. But he also added that "we're not depending on any of them to come in and play," emphasizing the depth of his current squad.
A big part of that squad is senior goalkeeper Matthew Haefner, who posted the seventh-lowest goals-against average in Division I last year. Haefner and sophomore Erik Violante spent 21 days on trial with French Ligue 1 club Sochaux, and have already attracted the attention of professional scouts and members of the media.
For Haefner in particular, the immediate future is very bright, with Major League Soccer a distinct possibility after this coming year.
"I don't think there's a doubt in anybody's mind that if he continues to make the improvements that he made the past year he can play at the next level," Fuller said. "The drive he has and the maturity he has, the sky's the limit."
Fuller believes that the Amherst, N.Y. native is "just scratching the surface. The lights have just gone on for him" with regards to the possibility of playing professionally in the near future.
"Just by word of mouth you're hearing about this 6-foot-4, 210-pound goalkeeper... that is going to bring out people who want to find out what he's all about," he said.
If the people keep coming to Rhodes Field, the future looks very bright indeed for Haefner and the rest of the Penn men's soccer team.
