As his teammates busied themselves with warm-ups at Franklin Field yesterday, Chris Casey spoke about taking over the coveted starting job of a friend.
A freshman goalkeeper, Casey led Georgetown Prep to an undefeated season and a No. 1 national ranking as a high school senior. Now he's the starter for Penn, supplanting Greg Klossner, who started every game during 2006's NCAA Tournament run.
"It's kind of sad taking over the starting spot, but he's taught me a lot over the last couple of weeks," Casey said. "I feel bad in some sense taking his spot, but it also gives me a chance to start my four years here."
As for Klossner, coach Brian Voelker says the incumbent goalie still has a place on the team. But the senior's inconsistency early on this year seems to have painted him into a corner.
Klossner "was a just a little bit up and down, and Chris had been really steady in the fall and he was really steady early in the preseason," Voelker said.
Klossner and Casey have both played 180 minutes so far this season, with Klossner notching 33 saves on 95 shots faced and Casey saving 28 of 87 shots. Both allowed 25 goals.
Casey had jockeyed for the starting role during the preseason, but an injury prohibited him from cutting into Klossner's playing time right away.
Voelker's decision not to split the playing time between the two had as much to do with their position as with their ability.
"There was some thought about maybe splitting halves with those guys, but then Chris got hurt," Voelker said. And "it's the one position where it's hard to do that."
"If the first kid plays really well in the first half, what do you do? Are you crazy enough to take him out and put another guy in?" he asked.
For now, Voelker won't be making moves like that.
But he might if he had to.
"It's the hardest position to play multiple guys [at], and I've never done it, to be honest with you. But I'm not saying I never would do it."
Unless that happens, Klossner and the freshman who has supplanted him will have to make due with the new situation. But Casey thinks it won't cause any awkwardness.
How could it?
"We're next to each other in the locker room every day," Casey said.
