When Penn and Columbia meet on the pitch tomorrow night in New York, it'll be the story of two teams looking for a new beginning.
The match is the first on each of their Ivy slates, and they hope to wipe clean the losses they've piled up in their tough non-conference schedules.
"We're pretty psyched to get the league started," said Quakers senior defender Keith Vereb. "Our out-of-conference games have been awesome in terms of preparing us."
Wins were hard to come by early on for the Lions (2-5-1), but they're riding a two-game winning streak after defeating American and Central Connecticut State.
The Quakers (2-4-2) have also managed to bounce back from a rocky start caused by an offense that had difficulty finding the net at times. But in their last outing against Saint Joseph's, striker Andrew Ferry and the rest of the attack finally broke through, scoring four goals.
"The main thing we're taking from St. Joe's is that confidence to go forward, to capitalize when we have teams on the ropes," Vereb said.
Things might be tighter against Columbia, though. Last year, fans saw a 1-0 double-overtime Penn win at Rhodes Field, and the Lions' defense features several junior and senior starters.
"They're fairly athletic," Quakers coach Rudy Fuller said. "They're a very hard-working team, and they defend hard."
Vereb said that he and the rest of the defense will be particularly wary of Columbia's physical play and their potent counterattack.
Getting pressure on the ball is a priority for the Quakers. In order to control the Lions' counterattack, Fuller is focusing on having the back line stay alert so it doesn't get caught flat-footed by any long balls being played from Columbia's defense up front to its forwards.
"We don't want one pass beating the whole team," Fuller said.
So far, teams have been successful in shutting down Columbia's offense. It's averaging less than half a goal a game, and its player with the most points is Hayden Johns, a freshman midfielder.
Forgetting about the Lions themselves, the Red and Blue have to face another obstacle in heading up to New York: a brand-new Astroturf field.
In order to get prepared, Fuller had the team spend the week training on Franklin Field's artificial turf.
It appears that the tide may be turning for the Quakers at just about the right time, but a pumped-up Columbia team will test the progress they've made.
"I think we're at the peak of hitting our stride," Vereb said. "And we have the talent to beat almost anybody. That's a dangerous combination."
