Hurricane Isabel won't stop the Penn men's soccer team from playing this weekend in New Jersey at the Princeton Invitational.
Threats of the storm have forced Penn to switch today's game against Towson University from the natural grass of Lourie-Love Field -- Princeton's home field -- to the NeXturf of Mercer County Community College. The start time has also been pushed back thirty minutes to 5:30 p.m.
However, Sunday's game against Loyola College is still on schedule and will remain at Lourie-Love unless weather conditions unexpectedly change for the worse.
After a tough weekend of overtime losses to Lehigh and Villanova, the Quakers are determined not to leave New Jersey empty-handed.
However, no drastic changes have been made to Penn's game plan.
"There were no changes in how we prepared this week. I think we're just re-focusing on the job at hand," coach Rudy Fuller said. "We felt coming away from last weekend that we didn't play as well as we're capable of playing.
"If we had taken care of business, the results would have been different."
Fuller's main critique after last weekend was the lack of communication between players and the lack of necessary on-field teamwork.
"It's all about the attitude of the guys," Fuller said. "They are coming back even more focused and determined, and it's all coming down to the fact that there were two bad results last week that didn't reflect the quality of the team we had."
Fuller's players agreed with those sentiments.
"We realized the week prior that the intensity level was not where it needed to be," junior defender Erik Hallenbeck said. "But the level of play and intensity in practice has increased dramatically this week.
"You practice how you play, and hopefully that will turn itself into a victory."
The odds might be in Penn's favor this weekend, though they are going up against two potentially dangerous squads from Baltimore.
Towson (0-4-1) has only scored one goal all season, which puts it in a similar situation as Penn-- desperate for its first win of the season.
"They are a young, hungry team who is searching for their first win just like we are, so I'm sure they're very determined," Fuller said.
Loyola College (3-2) has had better luck so far this season, but is still recovering from losses to Maryland and University of Maryland, Baltimore County. The Greyhounds have already defeated one Ivy League team this season, beating Cornell, 3-2, last week.
"They have been in the NCAA tournament the past couple years with a couple talented players, so they will be another good, tough team," Fuller said.
But Penn knows that to win this weekend it needs to work better as a team, which it focused on during this week's practices.
"We are learning new things about how to work together," sophomore forward John Rhodes said. "It's coming together pretty well. We're making progress each day."
"The team is like a puzzle, you have your piece and we need to all work collectively," Hallenbeck said. "One certain individual isn't going to win the game... we need to work hard for each other on the field."
