The Daily Pennsylvanian
It would be easy to overlook today's men's soccer game against Drexel.
The Dragons have played poorly of late. They haven't even scored a goal in the last three weeks, let alone win a game.
Penn, on the other hand, is coming off its most successful weekend of the season. The Quakers knocked off No. 18 South Carolina last Friday, 2-1, and then followed it up last Sunday by shutting out Fairleigh Dickinson, 1-0.
But Penn coach Rudy Fuller is determined to make sure his squad doesn't look past today's game.
"Drexel is looking at this game as a great opportunity to get themselves back on track," he said. "I am very confident that they are going to come in here playing on top of their game to try and knock us off."
Despite Penn's win last Sunday, Fuller was quite critical of his team's play against the Knights after the game.
"We need to focus more on playing to the best of our ability each and every time we step on the field, regardless of who we're playing, and the results will take care of themselves," Fuller said. The Quakers can "not get too caught up in who their next opponent is and what their results have been and how good they are as a group."
Drexel has been outscored 10-3 by its opponents this season, with all three goals coming in the team's first two games of the season -- wins over American and Monmouth.
A bright spot of the Dragons this season has been the play of freshman Jack Przednowek. The forward, a native of Canada, scored the game-winning goal in both of Drexel's wins this season.
He has outscored all of his teammates combined this season as well.
If the Quakers are able to shut down the forward-- like La Salle, Princeton and Temple have done in Drexel's last three games -- then Penn sophomore goalie Dan Cepero could be looking at his second consecutive shutout.
After taking over as the team's starting goalie this season, Cepero has played extremely well.
The Baldwin, N.Y., native has the 29th-most saves in the nation, and he has already posted two shutouts on the season.
Cepero stressed that the most important thing for Penn to avoid in this weekend's Philadelphia Soccer Seven matchup is "complacency."
"It's important that we not get in a mindset that this is going to be easy," he said.
Penn junior Erik Violante agrees with his goalkeeper.
"Their record is not really necessarily indicative of the kind of team they are," he said.
"The danger is that if we don't prepare for the game properly, we drop our level, look too much at their prior results, then we come out flat," Violante added. "We can't do that."
Despite what Fuller and his players preach, the team has to be looking ahead at its tough upcoming schedule.
The Quakers will travel to Loyola, Md., this Wednesday before starting their Ivy League slate next weekend at Cornell. An Oct. 20 matchup with No. 1 Maryland also looms large.
