Four scores and one year ago

The La Salle women's soccer team had never beaten Penn, but it seemed like 2009 might be its year to break that trend.

Entering Sunday's matchup at Rhodes Field, the Explorers were riding a program-best 4-0-1 start that included four consecutive shutouts.

Then along came Penn's Jessica Fuccello.

After missing most of last season with an ankle injury, the leading scorer from the 2007 Ivy League Championship team had already made an emphatic return. In Friday's matchup with George Mason, the senior forward smashed a header in the 25th minute that proved to be the decisive goal in a 3-1 Quakers victory.

But Sunday's game against La Salle was her true welcome-back party. She tied a Penn record with four goals, highlighted by another header that iced the Quakers' 5-2 win.

"She had a special night," Penn coach Darren Ambrose said. "You don't coach those kinds of things. The kid just has a knack for finding the goal. She's a special player."

Fuccello's triumphant return was a much-needed boost for a team that fell to fifth place in 2008 and lost perennial All-Ivy standout Natalie Capuano to graduation.

"Just to see her scoring and getting her head on balls, it's good to see," fellow senior captain Michelle Drugan said. "Everyone's excited about it. She just picks up the whole team."

Fuccello attributed the most prolific scoring outburst of her career to "being in the right place at the right time" and "being able to read where the ball is going to go and getting there in time."

Indeed, all four of her goals were the product of well-placed passes. Her first goal came in the 40th minute when she received a short pass that Drugan had slipped past the defense. Fuccello eluded La Salle goalkeeper Gabby Pakhtigian and tapped home the score.

In the second half, freshman forward Alex Dayneka found Fuccello behind the defense for an easy finish. And just 10 minutes later, Dayneka squeezed another beautiful cross through three defenders that Fuccello chased down just in time to push it past Pakhtigian.

But both Fuccello and Ambrose were most impressed with the record-tying fourth goal, which harkened back to the glorious 2007 season. Senior Jess Rothenheber lofted a tremendous feed from the right side, and Fuccello rose high above the defense and sent a powerful header from eight yards out to the far corner.

In the spirit of a true team captain, Fuccello would not accept the title "star of the game." She credited her teammates for the quality passes and hustle that set her up for five shots on goal.

"This feels great. It's exciting," she said. "But I think our team really pulled it together. We all did well as a team."

Drugan admitted that the team wasn't exactly looking for her on those occasions.

"She just happens to be everywhere," Drugan said.

Ambrose said that Fuccello's "determination and passion and willingness to score is unlike any other," and he doesn't think she's satisfied with this weekend's performance.

"She'll want to score five next time," he said.

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