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M Soccer beats Lehigh 2-0. Penn: 1 Ben Berg Lehigh: 12 Alex Weisberger Credit: Alex Ball

After an ill-fated bounce delivered the Penn men’s soccer team a crushing overtime defeat Tuesday, it does not look as if fortune has chanced a smile upon the Quakers.

The Red and Blue look to try their luck against Lucky Mkosana and the high-flying Dartmouth offense tomorrow night at Rhodes Field. Mkosana, the Co-Ivy League Player of the Week, drilled in two goals last Saturday, leading No. 16 Dartmouth (7-2-1, 2-0 Ivy) to a thrilling overtime victory against Yale.

As Penn enters the key stretch of the conference season, this game could have Ivy title implications. Both teams are trying to finish in the top of the conference, as their quest for a repeat bid to the NCAA tournament intensifies.

“The mentality is the same,” Penn coach Rudy Fuller said. “We go in to win.”

Fuller acknowledges that the game will be a challenge, but given Penn’s promising play in the second half in its 2-1 double overtime loss to American Tuesday, the coach thinks his team can conquer it.

“On any given day we can beat anyone in the country … Unfortunately, on any given day we can lose to anyone too,” Fuller said. “We are a great team, but what we constantly strive for is to compete at a high level on a consistent basis.”

That consistency needs to start with junior goalkeeper Ben Berg. Berg has only let in an average of one goal per game over the last three contests, and hopes to continue his impressive play against a forceful Dartmouth squad that leads the Ivy League with 23 goals and 24 assists so far this season.

The Big Green have nearly tripled its opponents’ shot attempts, as well as more than doubled opponents’ goals in 2009.

“If we take advantage of our opportunities and focus on ourselves, not our opponents, we can beat anyone,” Fuller said of Dartmouth’s stacked offense.

After an incredibly slow first half against American, Penn (4-4-3, 0-1-1) hopes to fire on all cylinders right from the start and put Dartmouth back on its heels — literally.

These two teams shared the conference title last year, but Penn got the auto-bid to the NCAA Tournament by virtue of their 1-0 win in Hanover, N.H.

However, based on their 10-5-2 overall record, the Big Green received an at-large bid. In fact, they advanced farther than the Quakers — who lost in the first round to George Mason, 1-0 — losing to No. 1 Wake Forest, 7-0, in the third round.

Yet the Big Green are still seeking revenge. And perhaps if luck is on their side tomorrow, they just might get it.

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