During its 3-1 loss to Villanova last weekend, there was one important part of the game missing for the Penn men's soccer team -- defense.
The Red and Blue seemingly corrected that error in Milwaukee this weekend, limiting opponents to just two goals in as many games. The Quakers dominated Wisconsin in a 3-0 win and were handed a 2-1 overtime loss by host Wisconsin-Milwaukee at the 32nd annual Coca-Cola Panther Invitational.
The Quakers (1-2) knew that their performance during the weekend could help determine the course of their season and the team played accordingly.
In Saturday's game against perennial Big Ten contender Wisconsin (2-2), the Red and Blue was able to settle in and play their indirect, misdirection style. After controlling the beginning of the first half, Penn sophomore Derrick Jumper received a ball from Artie Bartholomew in the 23rd minute. Jumper hit a shot from 12 yards out that sailed out of the reach of Badgers' keeper Eric Hanson and fell just under the crossbar to give Penn a 1-0 lead.
The Quakers were able to take a comfortable margin into the half on Derek Hobson's first collegiate goal, a volley from eight yards out after two spectacular passes by senior Matthew Waddell and junior Justin Estrada. Waddell was able to get the ball out wide to Estrada, who threaded a pass to Hobson for the score.
The Red and Blue continued to pressure Wisconsin in the second half and put the game out of reach in the 85th minute on Stephen Kroculick's first goal of the season. Penn's senior co-captain slipped behind the Badgers defense and took a pass from Estrada before tucking the ball behind Hanson.
Despite the plethora of offense, the Quakers' performance came down to one number -- zero goals against.
"Clearly we were much better defensively as a team and took our chances on the attack well against a strong Wisconsin team," Penn coach Rudy Fuller said.
Sophomore goalie Daniel Cepero also had a solid outing, after surrendering three goals to Villanova in his first game as the Quakers' starting goaltender. Fuller noted Cepero's command in the goal box and his ability to make the quick reaction save.
Sunday against Wisconsin-Milwaukee (1-1-2), Penn not only had to deal with its second game in just over 24 hours, but also the second straight day of temperatures that reached the mid-80s.
"We were fortunate that the guys who came off the bench [against Wisconsin] did well and we only had our back four and the goalkeeper play the entire 90 minutes," Fuller said Saturday night. "I'm confident in the fitness of the group, but we have a challenge tomorrow, there's no doubt about it."
The Quakers appeared to meet that challenge in the first half, as they came out firing against a Wisconsin-Milwaukee team that was looking for redemption after a 4-1 loss to No. 20 Tulsa on its home turf. The Quakers outshot the Panthers, 6-2, in the first half.
Penn got on the board halfway through the first frame when senior David Maier put a shot on Panther goalkeeper Kirk Thode. Thode made the initial save, but Estrada grabbed the rebound and put it into the open net.
"We knew that if we were going to play our game we were going to have a real good chance to win," Kroculick said.
However, Penn got away from its game in the second half as the Quakers began to play Wisconsin-Milwaukee's more direct style. The change allowed the Panthers to control the ball throughout the frame. Craig Mallace was finally able to beat Cepero low in the 72nd minute to tie the score, 1-1.
"We just got a little too comfortable, got away from our game and got drawn into the atmosphere and the crowd," Penn senior Erik Hallenbeck said. "We had our chances, but overall we lost our style of play and they just started to really come at us."
Wisconsin-Milwaukee continued to put pressure on Penn, but the Quakers were able to stretch the game to overtime and appeared to have new life.
"We kind of struggled to get through the second half and when overtime started we did start to play again and pin them in a little bit," Fuller said. "I felt a goal coming for us."
However, the Quakers turned the ball over deep in their own territory and Mallace picked up the ball and beat Cepero on the far post.
"We didn't do a very good job as a team of imposing our style in the second half," Fuller noted. "I think that's where the game was really lost."
Despite the pain of the overtime loss to the Panthers, the Quakers were happy with their performance over the weekend.
"The defense was a lot tighter and for the most part we had the better run of play," Kroculick said. "Today especially, they just got a little lucky."
