The Penn men's soccer team played Seton Hall twice last year with the first game resulting in a 1-0 loss. However, the Quakers won when it counted, defeating the Pirates in the first round of the NCAA College Cup.
Sophomore Erik Violante scored the game-winning goal on a penalty kick to win the game in overtime, 1-0.
"Both games were very tight contests, but that time we were able to win in overtime on a penalty," Penn coach Rudy Fuller said. "We were evenly matched last year."
After losing their third Ivy League game this season to Yale on Saturday, 1-0, the Quakers head to South Orange, N.J., to take on the Pirates this afternoon, with a little less on the line.
"They play good possession ball," Violante said. "They also have the potential to play more direct and straight to the forward because they have a very good offensive group."
A little bit of a rivalry has developed between the two teams.
"Two years ago, we took away a 3-2 victory at their place, too, so there is definitely some bad blood," junior co-captain Erik Hallenbeck said. "We played them in the spring and in the preseason, so we know them pretty well."
The Pirates (7-4-4) have been turning heads in the Big East this season with their home record -- they are 5-0-1 in South Orange.
"They have quite a different look than last year," Hallenbeck said. "I think they have four or five new faces starting, and they've shown themselves to be very accomplished this year.... They are a solid team top to bottom and back to front."
The Red and Blue will take the field without starting defender Andy Howard, who will sit out today's game after receiving a red card against Yale.
Hallenbeck said he is confident that they have the team depth to fill Howard's shoes.
"There are a number of options," he said. Freshman Charles "Snyder and [sophomore Andrew] Fenwick have both shown themselves to be capable of playing in the back, and Artie [Bartholomew] got a spell in the back against Maryland.
"We'll miss Andy, but I'm positive whoever goes in will do the job just as well."
Last week, a possible substitute for Howard could have been sophomore Justin Estrada, who was in the midst of returning to the lineup after an ankle injury that has kept him out most of the year.
But after taking bad hits against the Terps and the Elis, Fuller said Estrada is "not available."
Other than Estrada, Fuller said that his players will be healthy and playing in their normal spots today.
"One positive coming out of the Yale game is that all the injured guys made it through unscathed," he said.
Though the team has taken some tough losses of late, players said that the Quakers still have a positive outlook on the season.
"There's five games left in the season, so it's not over," Violante said. "We don't want to be at the bottom of the league.... We hope to play the role of the spoiler now."
"If we start getting into bad habits now, it could carry over into next season."
And the rivalry certainly helps motivate them.
"There's a lot on the line in every game," Hallenback said. "This game and the Maryland games were the ones we were looking forward to the most outside of the league, so guys are definitely looking forward to this game."
