Penn men's soccer coach Rudy Fuller must feel like he's playing "Whack-a-Mole." He knocks one problem down, and another pops up.
Last year, his team had trouble closing out games. This year, it can't open them.
In 2006, the Quakers were prone to fading in the second half. Penn only outscored opponents 9-7 after the break, despite beating them 12-4 in the first half.
The Quakers coughed up halftime leads in games against La Salle and Seton Hall that could have pushed them from a solid season to an NCAA Tournament at-large bid.
More than once that year, Fuller remarked that his players were in "complete control" of a contest, only to see them fall short when the game was in its twilight.
The coach brought in 11 new players this year, hoping that a squad 50 percent larger would be better equipped to survive at the end of a taxing game.
Down goes one mole, up comes another.
Penn is taking its lumps in the first half instead. In six games, the Quakers have been outscored 6-1 before the break, the lone goal coming in a 2-1 win over Hartwick.
At no time was the need for improvement more apparent than on Saturday, when Penn gave up a goal just five minutes into the game against Lehigh. The Quakers rebounded bravely but could only manage a 1-1 draw.
"We can't give up that early goal," said junior defender Alex Fairman, who redeemed his defensive unit by getting the equalizer.
Fuller was short on answers, at least after that game.
"Right from the start, it wasn't the greatest soccer game," he said. "We could have come out and played better."
But even as the second-half woes have morphed into first-half ones, the cause of the issue hasn't changed much at all.
The problem seems to lie on offense, where Penn has had trouble in the past. In a game against La Salle, the Quakers outshot the Explorers 11-4 in the second half but only got a tie out of it.
That pattern, too, has become common. Penn has a losing record and has given up twice as many goals as it's scored - but has almost as many shots (69) as opponents have (71).
"Offensively, we've been working on some things in practice," midfielder Derek Hobson said. "We've been changing around a little bit with personnel."
After an opening-night shellacking by Seton Hall, Fuller has started at least nine different midfielders and forwards, looking for the right scoring touch. But he's been largely unsuccessful, as his team has managed only a goal per game thus far.
That may have been okay with a stalwart defense and Dan Cepero in goal. But if Penn wants to challenge in the Ivy League this year, it'll have to score more - and score earlier.
