Ivy League play begins tomorrow for the Penn men's soccer team, and every team is on equal ground. No matter how well or poorly some teams played in their non-league games, every team has a 0-0 conference record. And according to Penn coach Rudy Fuller, "the league is tighter than ever."
If non-conference play has shown anything about the competition this year, it's that Fuller's evaluation is dead-on. Six of the eight teams in the league are separated by one win in their non-league records, and last year's Ivy champ, Dartmouth, has started this season 3-1-3.
"There are going to be tough battles every game," Dartmouth coach Jeff Cook said.
Last year Penn came out with a 6-1-2 record, but finished at 7-8-2 overall. So far this year Penn once again finds itself with a good 6-1 record, but the team is full of new players. There are eleven freshmen on the team, plus a sophomore transfer from Maryland, Keith Vereb.
The new additions have contributed in numerous ways. Vereb and freshman Ryan Porch are regular starting defensemen, and four of the five Quakers leading the team in points are freshmen.
Still, the team is bolstered by a corps of veteran players. Five starters from last year -- junior goalie Dan Cepero, defender Erik Violante, midfielders Jon Abelson and John Rhodes and forward Richard Brushett -- are back on this year's squad.
It is difficult to tell which teams might stand in the way of the Quakers winning their first Ivy-league title since 2002. Yet the Princeton-Dartmouth game Sunday in Hanover, N.H., may be one of the best indicators in this early season.
The game matches last year's champion against a Princeton team that tied for second. The Tigers (3-3-0) also have last year's Ivy League player of the year, Darren Spicer, whom Cook describes as, "very dangerous." Spicer is currently the reigning Ivy League and Eastern College Athletic Conference Player of the Week .
Dartmouth, led by senior P.J. Scheufele, hopes to be able to contend for a second straight title. The Big Green has only lost one starter from the team that fell on penalty kicks in the first round of last year's College Cup.
Penn begins Ancient Eight play tomorrow night at Rhodes Field against Cornell (1-4-2), a team that last year finished last in the league.
While Fuller acknowledged that "Cornell was one of the weaker teams last year," he warned that the Big Red has "rebuilt with some talented young players."
The Harvard-Yale game tomorrow in New Haven, Conn., presents an interesting match-up -- and not just because of the longtime rivalry between the schools.
Harvard (4-1-1) tied for fifth place with Penn last year, and like Penn, the Crimson are off to an impressive start. The Bulldogs (3-0-3), meanwhile, were part of the three-way tie for second place in 2004, and are the only team in the league that has yet to lose a game this year.
Players from both teams received All-Ivy honors last year. Crimson midfielder Mike Fucino was Ivy League Rookie of the Year last year. Fucino and Chris Altcheck won second-team all-Ivy honors. Yale's main scoring threat, forward Alex Munns, received honorable mention.
Finally, in the matchup of the two longest-tenured coaches in the league, Brown's Mike Noonan will take on Columbia's Dieter Ficken tomorrow in New York.
Noonan is in his ninth year with the Bears (4-3-0), while this will be Ficken's 27th year with the Lions (3-6-0).
Ficken will try to get the Lions to improve upon their seventh-place finish last season. He will look for help from his leading scorers this year, midfielders Chris Wales and John Mulhern.
Senior Jamie Granger and junior Ben Brackett are two of five Bears who lead the team in goals this season, with two apiece.
Brown had one less win than Dartmouth last year, and the Bears are always considered a threat.
The Big Green's Cook described Brown as "always extremely competitive."
All eight teams have a legitimate chance at winning the championship this year, and all of the players and coaches know it. Look for the rebuilt Quakers to be in the race all the way to their final game Nov. 12 at Harvard.
