Sophomore Christian Barreiro is accustomed to playing on unfamiliar turf. In high school, the forward experienced varying styles of play in international competitions in Europe and South America.
So a 2,300-mile trip to the San Diego State Tournament was certainly not enough to faze him.
Barreiro scored two goals yesterday, including the game-winner on a feed from junior Tobi Olopade, in Penn's first victory of the season, a 3-2 triumph over San Diego. Two days earlier, Olopade also assisted on the game-tying goal in a 2-2 draw against the host Aztecs, which left Penn as co-champions of the four-team tournament. (Wisconsin came in last at 0-2.)
"It's always a great experience to travel and go to a place like San Diego. It's so beautiful, we went on a cruise [Saturday]," Barreiro said. " It's a great experience to see West Coast soccer and how different it is from East Coast soccer, and it's great to test ourselves and keep working to get better and better."
Of Penn's 21 players, 15 hail from East Coast states - including the native Baltimorean Barreiro - so many Quakers had to get used to their new surroundings.
"Soccer everywhere is going to be different … whether you're going to play quick on the ground or you're going to play long ball," Barreiro said. "I thought San Diego was a pretty direct team, and tactically we handled them pretty well."
The Toreros (3-1-0) are an athletic team, especially dangerous in the open field and at slipping behind defenders, but the Quakers (1-1-2) had a game plan ready.
"We wanted to try and make the field a little bit smaller … and see if they could try to break us down with some good soccer," Penn coach Rudy Fuller said. "We challenged them in that regard, and they kind of stuck to what they felt like they were good at, which played right into our hands."
Junior Loukas Tasigianis tallied the first goal of the game off of a corner kick, and Barreiro's goals were enough for Penn to overcome the Toreros' spirited attack.
Against San Diego State (1-2-1), senior Alex Takakuwa gave Penn a first-half lead with his third goal of the season, a header off of a throw-in by Zach Barnett. But the Aztecs bounced back with two quick goals in the opening seven minutes of the second period.
Freshman Alex Tuch provided a spark off the bench for the Quakers after entering with 20 minutes remaining. He attempted five shots - including two on target - and delivered a clutch goal with less than five minutes on the clock to force overtime.
"Any time we bring someone in off the bench, we really are counting on them to come in and make a difference in a positive way, and I think Alex is a great example of that," Fuller said. "As a younger guy, he's starting to settle in nicely, and he needs to try to continue to try to perform at that level on a consistent basis."
While Barreiro said it felt good to record his first two goals this season, he was happier with the team's continued overall improvement.
"It was totally a team effort," he said. "From the keeper to the back line to the midfield to the strikers, we all worked as a unit, and that got us the result."
