M. Soccer | Quakers' net still untouched

It just keeps going and going and going.

Drew Healy extended his shutout streak to a Penn-record 590 minutes as the Quakers (4-0-2) tied an inspired Buffalo, 0-0, on Friday night and routed hapless Mercer, 6-0, yesterday afternoon, claiming the Penn Soccer Classic title - their third tournament victory in as many attempts.

Under the lights and in the cold, the Quakers battled through two overtimes against Buffalo but settled for the draw.

"We weren't sharp enough with the ball at our feet to really break them down," said head coach Rudy Fuller. "We were clearly disappointed coming away with a tie."

The Red and Blue came out firing, but their momentum was slowed 15 minutes into the game, when Buffalo defensive back Eric Johnson stumbled to the ground, dazed. Johnson, who suffered a concussion earlier in the day, required oxygen and was escorted off the field on a stretcher.

The 30-minute delay cost the Quakers their early energy and they spent the rest of regulation trying to regain the upper hand.

In that time, Penn displayed some of its best defense all season, fending off corners and restarts and keeping its cool amid some heated late-game antics.

Setting up a Buffalo free kick just outside the Quakers' box, Bulls midfielder Rich Wilson appeared to karate-chop a Penn defender while vying for position. Quakers' senior back Ryan Porch stepped in to break up the scuffle and wound up with a yellow card.

But he and the other backs settled down in both overtimes, when the action was all in front of the Quakers' net, as balls sailed over the crossbar and just wide of the poles.

"It was probably one of the tougher tests [the backs] have seen all season," Porch said. "We're not really used to guys running at us as fast as they were."

Yesterday, it was the Quakers doing the running. Five minutes into the match against Mercer, senior back John Elicker had a run down the right side and crossed a perfect ground ball at the feet of Kevin Unger, who put it away on the first touch.

Omid Shokoufandeh scored 10 minutes later on a cross by Alex Grendi.

The Bears came out aggressively in the second half, but the Quakers easily matched their intensity.

Freshman back Jake Levin scored his first two goals as a collegiate player in the first 20 minutes of the second half.

"My role coming in was just to keep shutouts," Levin said. "I was so excited afterwards I didn't know what to do. I had to celebrate by just running around."

Quakers' middie Loukas Tasigianis got in on the action in the 70th minute with a perfectly executed bicycle kick off a Josh Baugh assist. Roughly 10 yards out, Tasigianis's No. 13 jersey flipped upside-down and buried the ball into the upper 90.

"I try it a lot during practice; practice pays off," he said.

Jason Gorskie added the sixth score in the 78th minute on a blast from 15 yards out.

Penn's lead allowed it to give new players some playing time in a low-pressure situation.

"It comes at a great time for us," Fuller said. "We've had some success and Wednesday [against Penn State] is going to be a tremendous challenge for us."

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