PISCATAWAY, N.J., Oct. 17 - One attack, one breakaway, one shot - all can decide a soccer game.
But after playing a tight opening 40 minutes last night at Rutgers and eventually losing 2-0, that doesn't make Penn coach Rudy Fuller or the rest of the Quakers feel any better.
"I don't think we played particularly well," Fuller said. "It's just that we got a few good chances that we should've buried and the game could've been 2-0, 3-0 early on."
In the 37th minute, Tomislav Barisic broke free behind Penn's defense and lifted a volley past keeper Drew Healy to dig the Red and Blue a 1-0 hole. Momentum - which was moving back and forth until then - shifted squarely in Rutgers' favor.
In the 58th minute, Barisic put the nail in the coffin, heading in the second and final goal.
The loss represents a real setback for the Quakers (4-6-2), who had been on the upswing just a few games ago. After climbing back from an 0-3 start to the season and winning their first Ivy game, they looked as if they had a good chance to meet pre-season expectations.
But a weekend loss to Dartmouth and the latest defeat by Rutgers (6-7-1) have clouded Penn's future, and now seem to raise doubts about whether or not the Quakers can recover their swagger for the final five Ivy matches.
Early on last night, it looked as if Penn would be the team to break the deadlock. Striker Andrew Ferry got deep in the box on a couple of occasions but couldn't score, and a Quakers header off a corner kick was denied by the post.
"Finishing has been a constant problem," Ferry said.
On the other end, Penn's back four was having trouble with a speedy and athletic Rutgers attack. A few close calls eventually gave way to the first goal.
As things got more desperate, the Quakers were whistled for a multitude of minor fouls. Penn accumulated 18 fouls on the game to the six by Rutgers. That made it difficult for the Quakers to retain possession and get any attack started.
"We were overly aggressive - not in a dirty way," Fuller said. "But we tried hard to win the ball and got called for some fouls."
Defender Ryan Porch added that the Quakers "had trouble adjusting to their formation changes coming out of the half. We need to communicate better in the future."
It seemed as if every player had something different to say about what went wrong. But they know there's not a lot of time to start getting things right again.
With the toughest Ivy games still ahead, the Quakers know there's no more margin for error.
Dartmouth 2, Penn 0
The Big Green put an end to the Quakers' three-match winning streak on Saturday at Rhodes Field.
It was a fast-paced game from the get-go, which didn't suit the usually-patient Quakers. They also had trouble defending against the long ball, a tactic the Big Green used in the second-half.
Dartmouth's Dani Rothenberg slipped right into the run of play despite only being in for 59 minutes of the game. He scored the early icebreaker and notched an assist on Matt Miller's second-half goal.
Finishing was once again an issue for Penn. Despite registering 13 shots (to Dartmouth's nine), only three of those were on goal and none of them got past Big Green keeper Sean Milligan.
But it really came down to defense. Dartmouth's didn't make any mistakes and Penn's did - surrendering two goals and the game.
