Last season, Penn men's soccer team lost to Maryland in College Park, Md., 2-1, after leading 1-0 at halftime. This year, the 25th-ranked Terrapins did not have to come from behind, jumping on the No. 14 Quakers right out of the gate for a 1-0 victory.
Although Maryland (9-4-1, 2-2-1 ACC) did not get the game's only goal until the second half, it dominated the Quakers in the first period.
It was only through last second lunges from sophomore goalie Daniel Cepero, a few timely tackles from its back four and a little luck that Penn escaped the first 45 minutes unscathed.
"Maryland came out very fast, put us under a great deal of pressure," Penn coach Rudy Fuller said.
The Terrapins seemed to be playing with 12 men on the field during the first half, always having more players around the ball than the Quakers (6-3-2, 2-0-1 Ivy).
Penn senior defender Erik Hallenbeck recognized Maryland's strong attacking style.
"When the second ball would get knocked down and their midfielders would come running at us ... they'd usually have numbers up.
"Sometimes it would be three-on five, four-on-six, and it would be tough to organize" our defense, he said.
Penn struggled to find any rhythm in the game's first 15 minutes, but lurched to life for a couple of long- range efforts.
Particularly dangerous was a 30-yard frozen rope off the right foot of junior Erik Violante midway through the first frame that sailed just wide to the right.
Conversely, Maryland pushed forward early and often, as Cepero was forced to miraculously stop a multitude of close-range attempts.
The halftime whistle could not have come quick enough for the Quakers, who retreated to their locker room in order to try to sort things out.
The Terrapins again came out strong to open the second half, and within seven minutes found the winning goal. On a rare defensive miscommunication between Penn junior defender Justin Estrada and Hallenbeck, Maryland freshman Stephen King slipped free and found senior forward Dominic Mediate, who scored from the edge of the six-yard box.
After the goal, Penn raised its intensity level, sparked by the play of junior forward Richard Brushett. In only his second appearance since having toe surgery in the offseason, Brushett played with a passion of someone who has been itching to get back on the field.
Dangerous throughout the rest of the second half with the ball at his feet, Brushett was also not afraid to mix things up with the bigger Maryland players.
He got in the head of his defender, junior Kenney Bertz, who was admonished with a yellow card after numerous frustration fouls.
The Quakers moved the ball much better in the last 30 minutes of the game, although they could not break through and claim a goal, getting shut out for the first time in nearly a year (14 games).
Penn freshman Jonathon Blackwell rose well off a Violante free kick with only eight minutes to go in the game, but was only able to head the ball harmlessly wide.
Despite the loss, which has no negative Ivy League implications, Fuller and his players were happy they got the chance to play such a talented team.
"They've been to the Final Four two years in a row," Fuller said. "It was a very challenging game for our guys, and I hope we learned some lessons today that are going to help us down the road."
Hallenbeck echoed his coaches sentiments.
"It's great to have to lift your level of play. We'll take what we can from this game and set our sites on Yale on Saturday," he said.
Maryland 0 1 -- 0PENN 0 0 -- 0
Goals: 1. Mediate (M) 51:36 (King)
