M. Soccer motto: Just keep winning, baby

Penn goalkeeper Drew Healy has accomplished a lot in his time at Rhodes Field. He recorded a program-best seven consecutive shutouts, and he has nine on the year, one shy of that school mark. But he has never won an Ivy League title.

On Saturday, the senior can get one step closer to achieving that when the Quakers face off against archrival Princeton.

Healy and the Penn defense have been nearly impenetrable this year, yielding an Ivy League-leading 0.69 goals per game.

"The defense, as well as the whole team, has played spectacular," Healy said. "Everyone has stepped up to their defensive responsibilities."

In theory, it would be easy for the Red and Blue (10-2-3, 4-1 Ivy) to overlook the Tigers (5-9-1, 2-2-1) and begin focusing on next week's season finale against Harvard, with whom they are tied for first in the Ancient Eight.

Yet Penn lost earlier this season to seventh-place Columbia, so coach Rudy Fuller is determined not to fall into the trap of being overconfident.

"It's deceptive," Fuller said, adding that the Tigers have played a tough schedule - they've faced three ranked teams - and "could be sitting here at 9-4-3."

Healy added: "We are focused on ourselves. We can't win two games on Saturday. We can only win one."

The Quakers have lost to the Tigers in three of their last four meetings, all of which were decided by just one goal.

Fortunately for the Quakers, Princeton's Kyle McHugh, who scored the game-winner last season, graduated. But the Tigers have a balanced, aggressive attack that will challenge Penn. Despite featuring the Ancient Eight's fourth-best offense, the Tigers only have one player in the top 10 of the league in scoring: 5-foot-3, 130-pound sophomore Brandon Busch.

"We have got to be very good defensively to deal with Princeton," Fuller said. "They don't have one guy to key on."

As is usually the case when these two teams face off, tomorrow's match should be a grinding, defensive, possession-oriented affair.

And despite the fact that Princeton's defense is just sixth in the Ivy League, 5-foot-8 senior midfielder Matt Care is one of the best lockdown players in the conference and will be tough to break down in space.

"Princeton plays in ebbs and flows," Healy said. "They have streaks of attack and defense, and they are equally adept at both."

And of course, in addition to this weekend's title implications, Saturday's game is a battle of bitter rivals.

"Penn and Princeton could line up in a chess match, and it will be heated." Fuller said. "Expect a fun game."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.