For senior co-captain Stephen Kroculick and the Penn men's soccer team, there really is no place like home.
Kroculick scored the game-winning goal on Friday, leading the Quakers to a 2-1 upset win over No. 18 South Carolina on the first day of the 2004 Penn Soccer Classic.
The Red and Blue followed up with a 1-0 win, albeit in sloppy fashion, against Fairleigh Dickinson yesterday. With the win, the Quakers improved to 3-2 on the year and 2-0 in the friendly confines of Rhodes Field.
"It definitely feels good to be at home, sleep in your own bed and play in front of your home fans," Kroculick said.
On Friday against the Gamecocks, the Quakers turned in their most impressive performance of the young season.
They dominated the first half of the game, controlling the tempo and style of the play, but were not able to slip a goal past South Carolina goalie Brad Guzan.
However, in the 62nd minute, senior Joshua Duyan finished off an impressive run through the Gamecocks defense with his first goal of the season to put the Quakers ahead.
After the Gamecocks' Sebastian Lindholm knotted the score at 1-1 just eight minutes later, Kroculick received a ball from Duyan and fired home the game winner in the 79th minute.
"It felt good," Kroculick said of his clutch goal against South Carolina. "We had a better game overall, even though we took our foot off the pedal after the first half."
"If you look at it in the newspaper, it might look like a huge upset," Penn coach Rudy Fuller said. "But we have the confidence that we can beat anyone on our schedule."
Penn's follow-up performance against Fairleigh Dickinson, however, drew less praise from the players and coaches.
The Quakers were outshot 14-7 in the game, but relied on a couple of key plays to pull out the win.
The lone goal came in the 21st minute, when junior Erik Violante scored off a direct kick just outside the 18-yard box. The ball appeared to deflect off one of FDU's walled defenders as it trickled past the outstretched arms of Knights goalkeeper Elvir Prasovic.
The Quakers had other good scoring chances in the first half, as when a Kroculick shot off a corner kick deflected off the post and off the back of the keeper Prasovic before he finally secured the ball.
The second half belonged mostly to Fairleigh Dickinson, but the Knights were unable to capitalize on their scoring chances.
Senior midfielder Antonio Nunziata had many dangerous runs through the Quakers defense, but all of his shots cleared the cross bar or went wide.
Without question, the play of the game came on the hands -- rather the right foot -- of Penn goalkeeper Daniel Cepero. In the 82nd minute off a FDU corner kick, the sophomore from Baldwin, N.Y., deflected a point- blank header with his right foot, sending the ball harmlessly out of the box. It would be the last good scoring chance the Knights would get.
"Today was not our best performance," Fuller said. "But I do give the guys credit. They did a good job holding on and found a way to give us the win."
Kroculick echoed his coaches words.
"Today was a little bit of a lackluster performance. We didn't have too many chances and gave up way too many."
The Quakers will have a week of practice before taking on Drexel at Rhodes Field this Friday. Game time is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
