The Penn men's soccer team overcame the absence of injured senior co-captain Jon Abelson with a 2-0 victory over American at Rhodes Field yesterday.
In contrast to their last few games, the Quakers took advantage of early goal-scoring chances to build a decisive two-goal lead 20 minutes into the game.
Having been eliminated from Ivy title contention Saturday with a 2-0 loss at Brown, the Quakers find themselves fighting for a bid in the NCAA College Cup, giving their non-conference games even more significance than they might ordinarily have at this point in the season.
Sophomore midfielder Derek Hobson opened the scoring in the eighth minute. A run by forward Derrick Jumper opened up space for Hobson, who thundered a 30-yard strike into the net from the left side.
Twelve minutes later, a well-placed cross from just outside the penalty area by freshman Alex Grendi resulted in the second goal. Senior co-captain John Rhodes headed the ball into the back of the net for his second goal this season.
"Rhodes had a strong game," Penn coach Rudy Fuller said. "We needed him to play well with Abelson out."
The Eagles (5-9-1, 4-2-0 Patriot) were never really out of the game, but they suffered from a one-dimensional attack. Midfielder Garth Juckem posed the only real threat to the Penn defense but could not create the chances American needed to make a comeback.
The Eagles' failure, though, was not due to a lack of effort. As their frustration mounted, they took their anger out on Penn's players with dangerous tackling, earning four yellow cards in a 42-minute stretch of play.
The Quakers (9-4-1, 2-2-1 Ivy) used their early advantage to control the game's tempo. As American became more aggressive late in the game, senior forward Richard Brushett had several opportunities to extend the lead but could not convert.
"It was a good overall performance," Fuller said.
The good news for Penn is that Abelson should be ready for Saturday's homecoming clash against Princeton, Fuller said.
Fuller denied that he used the match as an opportunity to get younger players some game experience with two crucial matches coming up. Penn sits in fourth place in the Ivy League with matches against Princeton and Harvard in the next two weeks and its Cup eligibility still in the balance.
"We have a chance to host a game [in the College Cup]," Fuller said. "We play to win every game."
If the Quakers are to reach their goal of making the 64-team field, they may have to do just that.
American 0 0 -- 0PENN 2 0 -- 0
Scoring: 1st Half: 1, PENN, Hobson 1, 8th; 2, PENN, Rhodes 2 (Grendi), 20th.
2nd Half: None
