Rudy Fuller no longer has a freshman-heavy team, but he knows that success will not just fall into a team's lap - even an experienced one.
Last year, Fuller's men's soccer team played with 11 freshmen. Despite some promising output, especially from leading scorers Mike Klein and Alex Grendi, the season ended on a bitter note.
Hard-fought losses to Princeton and Harvard on the last two Saturdays of the year dropped the Quakers from contenders to spectators in postseason play.
"We have to continue improving," Fuller said. "Even though we were 9-6-1, we didn't achieve either of our goals, which were winning the Ivy League and playing in the NCAA Tournament."
Success in the Ivies this year is far from a guarantee, especially given the losses of Penn's graduating seniors. Most notably, the class included team leader John Rhodes, midfielder Jon Abelson and stalwart defender Erik Violante.
Still, Fuller is confident in the sophomores' potential contribution.
"I think [last year] it was a good first taste for them," he said. "Now, we've got to kind of step it up another level to accomplish what we want to accomplish."
If Penn is to challenge Ivy League co-champions Brown and Dartmouth, they will need to rely heavily on senior goalkeeper Dan Cepero. Cepero led the Ivies in shutouts last year and sported a 1.03 goals against average.
While the team has yet to select its captains, the three-year starter has to be considered a front-runner.
"I think he's one of the top goalkeepers in the country," Fuller said. "I would expect him to have a major impact on how our team does."
Cepero's contribution will be all the more valuable in the 2006 season, as the team has only seven upperclassmen.
Cepero is joined by three other seniors: Andy Howard, Ryan Tracy and Charles Snyder. That trio had only 15 starts between them last year, but Fuller says the season will demand "significant contributions from all four of those guys."
One consequence of the large freshman class was a less hectic recruiting season, as Penn will only bring two more players to the team.
"Having half the team as first-year players, we weren't really looking to bring in a big class this year," Fuller said.
Fuller added that going after fewer players allows him to pursue a higher quality of player. Both freshmen have extensive regional team experience, putting in several years of play on teams just one level below the national squad.
The glut of sophomores suggests that neither of the two freshmen is a favorite to see significant time. Goalkeeper Kevin Sweetland will play behind Cepero, backing him up with sophomore Drew Healy.
Defender Lee Rubenstein may see some time but is entering a unit with established veterans including Howard, Keith Vereb and Jeffrey Livingston.
The team isn't without its question marks, but Fuller hopes that the seven upperclassmen can lead it to the strong league finish that eluded it last year.
"It's not often that you have a group of upperclassmen, juniors and seniors, like you have this year," he said. "I'm going to do everything possible to kind of tap into each one of them."
