M. Soccer | 'D' does it in Dairy State

Just 23 minutes into the Penn men's soccer season opener on Friday night, Quakers sophomore Loukas Tasigianis set off a scuffle when he took down Marquette's Matt Stummer.

Penn captain John Elicker and Marquette forward Anthony Colaizzi ran in to break it up. Colaizzi threw a forearm at the Red and Blue captain and earned a red card, while Elicker was given a yellow.

But when the pitch cleared and the Marquette Tournament was over on yesterday, it was Penn that had the last laugh.

The Quakers went 1-0-1, winning the tournament on the back of a dominating defense. Friday night's match in Milwaukee, Wis., was essentially a home game for the Golden Eagles, but the Quakers scrapped their way to a scoreless draw, which was Penn senior keeper Drew Healy's first collegiate clean sheet. He added his second in a 2-0 win over DePaul yesterday.

"They gave us everything we could handle, and I thought it was a fair result," Penn coach Rudy Fuller said of the Marquette match. "Neither team necessarily deserved to lose."

The soccer gods ensured that Quakers midfielder Alex Grendi scorched a free kick off the post from outside the box in the 25th minute, and just before the close of the half, Aaron Ross put one in the net for the Red and Blue, only to have it called back because of a foul.

The teams combined to tally 15 shots and 25 fouls before regulation drew to a close

"Even when they were down to 10 men, they were just coming after us," Healy said. "That was more of a gritty, grind-it-out, high-pressure type game."

Healy finished the match with four saves, equaling his counterpart in the opposing net.

The Quakers' last good chance came in the 104th minute, when Alex Fairman lined up for a free kick just outside the box. Although a Beckham-like curve sent the ball around the wall, it landed right in the gloves of the Marquette keeper.

Yesterday's game against DePaul was a contrast to the frenetic Friday competition.

"The second game of a weekend is always going to be challenging from a physical standpoint," Fuller said. "Fortunately, we have a deep team."

After notching another four saves, Healy noted DePaul's deployed a "sit-back" style of play.

The senior from Delaware credited his defense - and not just the back line. The Quakers have made a point of having "11 defenders" on the field at all times and switched from an attack-oriented 4-3-3 to a more defensive 4-4-2.

"It's been a while since we felt that confidence in [our defense]," Healy said. "I think the swagger's back a bit."

After a scoreless first half, Omid Shokoufandeh scored the Quakers' first goal of the season on a pass from Kevin Unger in front of the net.

Fifteen minutes later, Healy made a diving save on a DePaul penalty kick, and Christian Barreiro notched his first NCAA score in the 86th minute to seal the game.

The Quakers beat out Marquette, DePaul and Columbia for the tournament trophy - which, luckily, fit in the overhead bin.

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