In just his collegiate sixth game, freshman defender Andy Howard moved from his position in the backfield to find the back of the net for the first time in his Penn career in the Quakers' 1-1 tie with La Salle.
Howard has made his presence felt in Penn's backfield this season, earning a starting spot in place of graduated All-Ivy League pick Nathan Kennedy.
The freshman has taken the challenge in stride, and after just six games, has provided an extra spark for Penn (2-2-2) with his intense style of play and on-field aggressiveness.
Howard's goal could not have come at a better time for the Quakers, who were facing their first loss in four games.
In the 84th minute, sophomore Richard Brushett -- who scored the game-winning goal against Philadelphia rival Temple last week -- crossed the ball to Howard, who kicked it past the diving La Salle goalie Stash Graham to tie the game at one and force overtime.
"The ball was served into the box, it got banged around a bit and [Howard] just finished it off," Penn coach Rudy Fuller said.
"I got a pretty good first touch despite the field.... The goalie misread it and Andy just stepped up and knocked it in," Brushett said.
The Penn goal ended a 58-minute scoring drought after La Salle (2-3-3) struck first in the 26th minute.
The Explorers' goal came on what Fuller called a "questionable call." Sophomore Josh France shot a direct kick at the Penn goal, which senior keeper Matt Haefner blocked.
After trapping the ball with his hand, which usually indicates that the keeper has possession, junior Kevin Coleman knocked the ball out from under Haefner's hand and found the back of the net and the officials "let it go," Fuller said.
The teams played the two overtime periods purely defensively, as neither team was able to launch a successful attack on goal.
Fuller emphasized his satisfaction with yesterday's draw -- in a game that was originally scheduled for Sunday, but moved due to rain -- primarily due to what he called the poor playing conditions and the playing style of La Salle.
"There was not much soccer played," he said. "It was an embarrassment and disgrace to the game."
Brushett agreed.
"Once the ball got in the inside, it was difficult to control the ball, put the ball on the ground and play our game because of the rocks and dirt everywhere," Brushett said.
"But we realize every game in the Philadelphia 7 is a battle, and we did really well in the second half to come back."
After making similar comments about a win against Temple last week, Fuller said that La Salle's McCarthy Stadium "made Temple [Stadium] look like Lincoln Financial Field.... They share the field with the football team, so it was very beat up. It was worse than most high school fields around the country. Football and soccer teams cannot share a field."
Added to what Fuller called "one of the worst surfaces in the country to play on" was the Explorers' playing style that took Penn out of its normal rhythm.
"They were a very direct team," Fuller said. "I don't know if they need to play that way because of the field.... They need to do what they need to do to win, and it's hard to play a soccer game on a field like that.
"Today was not a soccer game."
After two tough city games, Penn is happy to take a break from playing Philadelphia teams and enters Ivy League play with an undefeated streak of four matches.
"We were more than happy to get out of there with a draw.... The guys showed a lot of character in the face of adversity," Fuller said. "We are glad these two games are behind us.
"I'm very relieved to get back to playing soccer."
