What a difference a week makes.
After a disappointing loss on opening weekend, the men's soccer team held on to beat Hartwick, 2-1, and then blew out Marist
4-0 to capture the Mayor's Cup in Oneonta, N.Y. Towson's 3-2 loss to Hartwick clinched the tournament for Penn, which will now have its name on college soccer's oldest trophy.
"You always want to get the season off to a good start, and really we didn't get off to a good start against Lehigh," Penn coach Rudy Fuller said. "But I give the players a lot of credit for bouncing back and getting a quality, hard-earned win, [especially] against a good Hartwick team."
After the opening whistle, Penn wasted no time getting its first goal of the year. Sophomore Alex Grendi corralled a loose ball barely 12 minutes in, took it to the top of the penalty box and rifled it into the net to give Penn a one-goal lead.
In the 28th minute, Hartwick equalized from a corner kick. Adam Mitchinson received the corner and chipped a ball forward for Tyler Hemming. Hemming ran onto the pass and hit a one time volley past senior goalkeeper Dan Cepero.
Penn took the lead for good nine minutes later when sophomore Ryan Porch played a long ball for senior Ryan Tracy. Tracy ran onto the ball, eluded the Hartwick defense and slipped it into the side of the net.
"It was some really good buildup," Tracy said of his first goal of the year. "It was on a long ball. . We've really been working on that in practice."
Penn did have to withstand pressure from Hartwick in the second half, however, getting outshot 7-2 during that stretch. Still, Fuller said he was happy with his team's second-half performance and felt that his team deserved the win.
"They had two serious chances . and on one of them they might have had three shots on one opportunity. I felt good about the second half - we felt like we controlled it. It's not that we were in there peppering their goal, but we did a good job limiting their chances."
"I watched the film [Saturday], and after watching it I felt very good about the entire 90 minutes," Fuller said.
Still, yesterday's game against Marist was easier for Penn, by any measure.
The Quakers put the game away early, scoring three goals in the first 25 minutes of the game.
Sophomore Omid Shokoufandeh started the flurry in the 10th minute with a shot to the far post. Junior Derek Hobson notched the next two, the first coming from the penalty spot. Finally, Ryan Tracy's 83rd minute tally on a rebound put the score at an insurmountable 4-0.
Then, Penn had to wait for the result of the Hartwick-Towson match to determine who would win the cup. After tournament offensive MVP Chris Jackson fired home an overtime game-winner for Hartwick, Penn became the only team to go 2-0 at the tournament.
Penn's team successes brought with them a couple of individual triumphs for Cepero.
With the Marist win, the Penn keeper became the school leader in career shutouts with 16. But perhaps more special was that Cepero was recognized as the tournament's defensive MVP after surrendering just one goal in the two games.
The senior captain acknowledged the honor but said it was a reflection of the team's defense as much as his individual prowess.
"I'd be lying if I said it was all me," he said.
For Cepero and the defense to receive that honor is particularly encouraging given their defensive failings in the season opener.
"We've done a lot of improvement," Fuller said of the better performances. "We're getting better with every game."
With a couple of games against city rivals Saint Joseph's and Duquesne coming up, Fuller has to feel confident in his team if that pattern of improvement continues.
