The average College of General Studies class at Penn attracts a mixed bag of students. The College kid who's too lazy to take the 10 a.m. version. The stay-at-home mom who's finally getting her degree. And the senior citizen who has nothing better to do on a Tuesday evening.
Not so ordinary are the professional athletes - the ones like Danny Cepero, who, while serving as the starting goalkeeper for the New York Red Bulls, is taking the last class he needs in order to graduate in December.
The former Quakers standout was recently the recipient of some dumb luck.
Because Red Bulls starting goalkeeper Jon Conway tested positive for a banned substance, Cepero became, by default, the man for the job.
Two days before the club's match at Giants Stadium, against the Columbus Crew on Oct. 18, Cepero got the nod. The Red Bulls needed a win to stay in the playoff race.
"First thing I was just nervous, completely nervous," Cepero said. "By Saturday afternoon I was just kind of anxious and ready to stop thinking about it so much and just go out and play."
No one could have expected what was to come. In his debut, a 3-1 victory, the player who used to man the net for the Red and Blue became the first goalie in MLS history to score a goal. Cepero's 81-yard free kick took a high, sharp bounce past his Columbus counterpart.
Red Bulls goalkeeper coach Des McAleenan called the goal a "fluke," while Cepero himself referred to it as a "crazy freak event."
McAleenan said that the nature of the turf at Giants Stadium was just asking for a goal like this - but he does admit that the source was an unlikely one.
"I always figured that somebody would do it, I just never figured it was Danny," he said. "I don't consider his kicking to be one of the strengths of the game. I consider it a weakness, and so it is rather ironic that he would score that ball."
For Cepero, the goal was just one more step to escaping his first professional game - which drew an attendance of just over 18,000 fans - alive.
"When it happened I was kind of in shock," he said. "I was like, 'Alright, sweet. Now all I gotta do is wait for him to blow the whistle so I can get out of here with a win.'"
His journey didn't start with such glamour.
He was selected by the Red Bulls with the 46th pick of the 2007 Supplemental Draft as a "developmental goalkeeper," meaning he would play for a small salary - $12,900, according to The Associated Press - for a small chance at actually making it big.
Cepero trained with the team for a year until being sent on loan to the United Soccer League's Second Division Harrisburg City Islanders, because, according to McAleenan, he lacked the self-confidence, decision-making skills and kicking game that come from playing every day.
In 18 matches with Harrisburg, Cepero had six shutouts - 17 shy of the 23 that he notched in Penn's record book - and gave up an average of one goal per game. While playing at Harrisburg, like now, Cepero drove back to West Philadelphia one day a week to finish out his college coursework.
It's on these weekly visits that the goalie comes back to his old stomping ground, Rhodes Field, and maintains his connection to the Red and Blue. Cepero talks regularly with current Penn keeper Drew Healy about the tricks of the trade, while Fuller doesn't offer too many tips any more.
"We talk about things he's experiencing and going through, but he's getting much better coaching from the goalkeeper coach of the Red Bull right now than I can give him," Fuller said.
Healy attributes some of his recent success to his now-professional friend.
"He mostly led by example, and that's where I got the most out of him," Healy said. "He was a great person to observe as far as mindset went."
Cepero's mindset will surely be tested in the week to come. Despite losing, 5-2, to the Chicago Fire - a game in which McAleenan says Cepero "was hung out to dry by a woefully inept, unprofessional display by a lot of senior players on the team" - the Red Bulls reached the playoffs.
Their first game is this Saturday in Houston and Cepero will be in front of the net on the biggest stage of his life. Not too long ago, the biggest stage he'd seen was the one that sits right next to the Schuylkill Expressway.
"It's two different worlds - playing in front of 20,000 people at Giants Stadium isn't nearly the same as two or three thousand at Rhodes," he said. "It's pretty awesome."
Related StoriesChance of a lifetime - SportsTaking the bull by the horns - Sports
