After dropping its first Ivy League contest of the year to Cornell on Saturday, the Penn men's soccer program viewed this week's action as vital to the success of its season.
The Quakers certainly got off on the right foot yesterday by dominating Philadelphia University, 5-0, and will head to Columbia on Saturday in search of their first Ivy win.
"We've labeled this a real critical week for the Penn soccer program, in the last five or 10 years," junior forward David Maier said. "We're hoping that this can be the turning point for the season to get us back on track."
Penn (3-3-2) outshot the Rams (4-6) 15-2 in the one-sided contest. The Red and Blue scored three goals in the first half, one more than they had scored in any whole game this season.
The offensive explosion started in the eighth minute of play when freshman forward Derrick Jumper netted a pass from sophomore defender Erik Violante.
"I saw Violante bring the ball up and there was a big gap in the defense," Jumper said. "I just made my run and he just led a great ball right through the defense."
Penn coach Rudy Fuller was pleased with his team's ability to notch the early score.
"It's great," Fuller said. "I think it was certainly a result of how the guys approached the game and came to play at the opening whistle, playing really well at the start."
The Quakers' offensive onslaught did not let up as junior midfielder Josh Duyan hammered home the rebound from teammate Andy Howard's shot with 25 minutes left in the first half for a 2-0 lead.
Maier entered the game as a substitute in the first half and his presence was felt immediately.
The honorable mention All-Ivy forward received a pass from sophomore forward Richard Brushett within the goal box and put the ball past Rams goalkeeper Justin Hewins.
"Richard is real effective at getting down the line," Maier said. "He's got a lot of pace, so I try to get in near post. He played the ball a little bit behind me, I controlled it, it bounced, and I was able to hit it on the volley before the goalie could get to it."
Maier and the Quakers continued their solid play after the break. Less than two minutes into the half, Maier lofted a perfect pass from near midfield to junior forward Joe Klein, who put away the team's fourth goal on the afternoon.
"We had a quick clearance out of the back and I just collected the ball on the sideline at about half-field," Maier said. "I saw that Joey Klein was open on the outside left and I could just float him the ball in and he had a lot of time and space and made a good finish."
The final tally was scored by senior reserve Nick Severini on a penalty kick in the game's last minute.
"It was great being a part of it, it was a great win," Severini said. "It was a good win coming off some tough results and I guess it made everyone a little more confident that we can put the ball in the back of the net."
Fuller is pleased with his team's performance, but he knows the most important match of the week is yet to be played.
"It was a very good game today," Fuller said. "But we said, 'Let's not get too carried away.' We can now focus our attention on getting a result up at Columbia, which is going to be a challenging task for us, but we feel we're up for it."
