Winning its first Ivy League title in 22 years and first College Cup game in 29 years is a tough act to follow. But the Penn men's soccer team can do something it didn't do last year when it opens up its season this afternoon -- beat Lehigh.
The No. 25 Quakers will face off with Lehigh in the first of their two games at the Penn/Kappa Soccer Classic over the weekend. On Sunday, the Quakers will play fellow Philadelphia Soccer 7 rival Villanova (1-3-1).
Last year, the Lehigh (2-0-1) topped Penn in a double overtime game that was a defensive standoff by the score of 1-0.
"Our guys have had their eyes on the Lehigh game for quite some time," Penn coach Rudy Fuller said. "It's a team we've been focused on the entire preseason. The first game is an important one."
The Quakers dropped their season opener last year to Seton Hall, 1-0. The Red and Blue more than made up for the early season defeat when then-freshman Erik Violante netted a penalty kick in overtime to top the Pirates, 1-0, in the first round of the NCAA College Cup.
Lehigh is the only unavenged non-Ivy League loss from last year's regular season, and the Quakers have certainly not forgotten about it.
"We want to dominate them, head-to-toe, at everything," senior goalkeeper and reigning Ivy League Player of the Year Matt Haefner said. "We want to come off strong right off the bat and get the victory that we didn't get last year."
The Quakers will transition to a 3-5-2 formation this year from last year's 4-4-2, giving Penn an extra midfielder and one fewer defender as the team looks for more midfield control and increased scoring chances.
Junior forward and returning leading scorer David Maier thinks the change will make an immediate difference, starting today.
"They tended to just sit back last year," Maier said. "The majority of the time we had the ball, but it was with our back four. Hopefully, we'll be able to keep the ball more in our midfield and the offensive third.
"Given how they played last year, most likely they'll sit back, so I think we're hoping with this lineup that we'll be able to get more shots and create more chances."
Fellow junior forward Stephen Kroculick thinks the offense's first half play will be critical.
"The key to this year is to get a goal early, and hopefully break their strong defense because they're probably going to stay back and try to pack it in," he said.
Sunday's matchup will bring Villanova to Rhodes Field as the Quakers seek to maintain the success they had last year in Philadelphia Soccer 7 play. Last season, Penn went undefeated (4-0) against Philly Soccer 7 teams, but did not play the Wildcats.
"Villanova is another quality opponent," Fuller said. "We're really happy to get them in the tournament. As well, it's a Big East team that comes from a very strong conference."
Expectations are high this year as the Red and Blue attained a national ranking before their first game. And it certainly would be a good start this afternoon if they could accomplish the one thing they could not last season.
"We want to go out there and perform well and play hard on our field, kind of defend our home turf," Fuller said. "And hopefully the results will take care of themselves."
