Just four days removed from making Lehigh "look like superstars," senior Dan Cepero and the men's soccer team will face an even stiffer test.
This weekend, the team travels to the Mayor's Cup in Oneonta, N. Y., where Hartwick and Marist colleges await today and Sunday, respectively.
Both teams made respectable showings in the 2005 NCAA College Cup, bowing out in the first round to nationally ranked squads.
Towson University will also play in the tournament, but will not face off against Penn.
The game against Marist, a 1-2 team on the year, looks to be Penn's best chance to get its first win of the season.
The Red Foxes return only six starters from their tournament run and have started slow this year, getting outscored 7-0 in their last two games, including a 3-0 loss to Yale in New Haven, Conn.
And the potential absence of senior Keith Detelj, who led Marist in goals last year, pushes the door open a little bit wider for Penn. Detelj, having already missed two games, injured himself 11 days ago in a 2-1 win over Army.
But the host, Hartwick, will be the real draw in Oneonta this weekend.
The tiny liberal arts college has won the annual tournament in five consecutive years and has taken at least a share of the title for 12 of the last 15.
The Hawks' only notable loss from last year's team is goalkeeper Josh Wagenaar. Wagenaar passed up his senior season to sign for ADO Den Haag of the Eredivisie, the Netherlands' top professional league.
Last year's NCAA appearance was Hartwick's first in 10 years. But the Hawks made it despite having no seniors on their roster, upsetting national powerhouse St. John's en route.
This year, they could be poised to make a deep run on the national stage.
Penn coach Rudy Fuller knows all about the prowess of the tournament's favorites. He was quick to acknowledge the challenge of playing such an accomplished team in their own tournament and on their own soil.
"Hartwick is a very good team - period," he said. "But at home, they're particularly difficult to play against. They've got a great following, a great crowd."
For its part, Penn will need to rebound from its disappointing start. The defensive lapses that hurt it against Lehigh would be even harder to overcome against tougher competition.
Fuller admits he still isn't sure what his strongest lineup is, and this weekend's personnel could easily differ from Monday's.
"The defensive side of it is more organization, being alert and being in tune to your surroundings," he said. "We weren't organized enough defensively to deal with some things [against Lehigh]. We had some relatively basic breakdowns . that you wouldn't expect from our group."
Now, the question for Fuller's team is whether that organization will come quickly enough to ensure a positive result in upstate New York.
