The men's soccer team had an opportunity to vent out some frustration at its slow start to the season on Saturday at Saint Joseph's.
Playing an overmatched and sliding St. Joe's squad, Penn dominated the entire game, winning 4-0. The win put Penn at 2-4-2, while St. Joe's slipped to 1-5-0.
"The guys were very sharp on the night," coach Rudy Fuller said. "They were prepared for the challenge of playing in this environment."
In the first half, junior Andrew Ferry ran wild, scoring two goals in the first 30 minutes of the game, vindicating his previously unrewarded work on the field. Prior to Saturday's game, Ferry had only scored one goal.
"It was real big for us to get off to a good start like that," Ferry said. Fery gave "a lot of credit to our outside forwards, especially [junior Alex] Grendi."
Grendi assisted both of Ferry's goals.
The real story of the night, however, was sophomore Kevin Sweetland's play between the pipes.
He filled in for junior Drew Healy, who was suspended for the game, and had the headache of containing St. Joe's freshman Colin Baker, who has accounted for 60 percent of St. Joe's goals this season.
"I think that he's had a lot of success, but I think that we have an unusually experienced back line," Fuller said of Baker.
Coming out of the second half, St. Joe's made a spirited charge, creating multiple scoring opportunities. Sweetland, who said his job in those situations was to "stay composed, stay balanced and do whatever you can to make the save," did just that. He came up with two magnificent saves and altogether stifled St. Joe's offensive attack. Colin Baker, too, was held to one shot on the night.
"I think our defense played great," Sweetland said. "We stayed together."
The game was over once freshman Loukas Tasigianis scored Penn's third goal in the 50th minute of the game, securing the now-insurmountable lead.
"The third goal in any game is the biggest," Ferry said. "We . knew we couldn't take it lightly [before we scored the third goal]. It was only 2-0."
With a frustrated St. Joe's team breaking down in garbage time, junior Omid Shokoufandeh capped off the successful night, scoring Penn's final goal.
This win gave the Quakers a much-needed boost coming into Ivy League play. He hopes the experience the Quakers have gained against top teams such as Cal and Stanford will continue to pay dividends - as it did Saturday against St. Joe's.
