In a game that saw three goals in the final 10 minutes, the men's soccer team started off its Ivy League season with a bang.
Now, the Quakers (5-2, 1-0 Ivy) will attempt to ride the momentum of that 3-1 win over Harvard when they face Cornell (1-3-3, 0-0-1) tomorrow in Ithaca.
Penn comes into the game ranked eighth in the NSCAA Northeast Regional Rankings, having won five of its last six matches. The Quakers remain in the rankings despite losing to La Salle last week, when they were in a tie for seventh.
The Red and Blue will try to avoid a repeat of last year, when the team came into the matchup against the Big Red ranked 18th in the nation, only to suffer a disappointing 2-1 loss.
Head coach Rudy Fuller, though, said in order to avoid a similar fate this time around, his team must put memories of last year's loss behind it.
"We don't want to get caught up in what's happened in the past," Fuller said. "Our focus and approach remains the same for every game."
Goalkeeper Dan Cepero said he has been encouraging his teammates to forget about the Harvard victory and to focus on the challenge of keeping up with Cornell.
"We just have to keep the train moving, to go up to Ithaca is always tough," the senior captain said. "We know they're a pretty fit team, hence all the fitness this week."
Endurance may have been a problem for the Quakers so far this season, exemplified in the 3-2 loss to La Salle on Sept. 20. In that game, the Quakers blew a 2-0 lead, giving up two second-half goals. Penn has not seen much production from the offense in the second half - the Quakers have netted only five of their 16 goals after the break.
Cornell comes into the match following a 0-0 tie against Columbia in its first Ivy League contest. It was sophomore goalkeeper Luca Cerratani's second shutout in only four starts this season.
The Cornell defense has given up a total of eight goals all season, with Cerratani only surrendering four in over 500 minutes of action.
"They're a very good defensive team, they're in every game they play," Fuller said. "They've got a good thing going. Definitely, we expect a very difficult game."
The Quakers have gotten off to a great start offensively, averaging over two goals per game. Senior forward Ryan Tracy leads the team with four tallies.
Sophomore forward Mike Klein - who has already earned an Ivy League Player of the Week award as well as two straight Philadelphia Soccer Seven Player of the Week honors - leads the team offensively with 11 points (three goals, five assists).
Klein, though, says the key to getting past Cornell's stout defense lies not in his individual skills but in the entire team playing together as a unit.
"We have to all be on the same page, making the right runs," Klein said. "Guys have to be more aware."
If the Quakers do that, they have a real chance to remain on top of the Ivy standings after the league's second week of action.
