Penn’s Travis Cantrell’s clutch goal last Saturday sealed a 1-0 Ivy League victory over Yale. It also raised the freshman forward to new heights, as he then received co-Rookie of the Week honors, along with Brown’s Thomas McNamara.
But the Quakers (5-6-3, 1-2-1 Ivy) will likely need a much greater effort from Cantrell and his teammates when they play McNamara’s Bears in Providence, R.I., Sunday afternoon.
The Bears (8-1-5, 3-1-0) have allowed a total of 11 goals in their 14 games this season. They have kept their opponents off the board six times, and have been shut out themselves only once.
Brown suffered its only loss to Harvard — ranked 19th in the nation — in a 1-0 decision.
“We just have to concentrate on our strengths, concentrate on ourselves, not really worry about them” Cantrell said.
The Bears are 4-0-2 at home this season, and in recent years have been infamous for being even more difficult to beat on their home turf.
“We know it’ll be a tough match,” Penn coach Rudy Fuller said. “Our guys are ready for it, they’ve played the game.”
Unlike Brown, the Quakers are all but eliminated from grabbing an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament at the end of this season. Forty-eight teams are accepted into the tournament and Penn is currently ranked 60th in the nation, while Brown is 41st.
“We just have to take it one game at a time,” Fuller said. “We know we can’t get too caught up in worrying about [the NCAA tournament].”
Cantrell shared his coach’s sentiment.
“If we play well in our remaining games we know we’ll be in contention,” he said.
In their remaining three games, including this one against Brown, the Quakers will face both Harvard and Princeton — who sits at 10th in the nation.
Penn freshman goalkeeper Garon Smith has now been in goal for three games this season since he replaced junior Ben Berg.
“Garon’s done well, so we’ll continue to go with him,” Fuller said.
Smith’s accomplishments so far include his first career win and shutout against Yale.
“On the experience side, I feel very confident in my gameplay right now, so that [lack of experience] isn’t getting me down,” Smith said.
The Colts Neck, N.J. native, is not counting his team out of contention for the NCAA tournament just yet.
“Many people may have thought our season was over, but it’s not,” Smith said. “We still have a very good shot at getting into the National Tournament. We have to win out the next three games, but we can only do it one game at a time.”
