Penn’s Christian Barreiro is avoiding the dreaded sophomore slump simply by being in the right place at the right time.
The second-year midfielder/forward accounted for both of the Quakers’ goals in a 2-0 win over Lehigh yesterday at Rhodes Field.
After being in what coach Rudy Fuller called a “lull” during Penn’s three-game winless streak, Barreiro said he and his teammates have gained their chemistry back.
“I think we’re building relationships and fortifying them,” he said. “In all areas of the field I think we’re linking passes together.”
On the two decisive plays, Barreiro was the recipient of well-placed crosses from teammates. Junior forward Tobi Olopade assisted the first goal by lofting a pass from the left side to an open Barreiro, who headed the ball past the goalkeeper.
“The first goal was outstanding,” Fuller said. “We had talked a lot about the timing of our services from the flanks and I thought [Olopade] did a great job of serving a good early ball into the back post and Christian put a great finish on it.”
Fuller stressed to the Quakers (4-3-3, 0-1 Ivy) to attack the defense early in order to catch Lehigh (5-4-2, 1-1 Patriot) off guard.
“Getting early serves in, you catch defenders facing their own goal in a more uncomfortable situation,” the coach said.
Barreiro’s second goal, on another nice feed from junior midfielder/forward Loukas Tasigianis, was a sign to Fuller that his sophomore was back on track.
“He got off to a very good start at the beginning of the season,” Fuller said. “I don’t know whether we didn’t manage his minutes well enough or whatever, but he was back to his normal self tonight.”
Despite the solid performance, the twelfth-year coach admitted that his team benefitted from an apparently worn-down Mountain Hawks team.
“They didn’t seem to have the same energy they usually do and fortunate enough for us we were able to take advantage of it,” Fuller said. “I thought we would have far less time and space than we did tonight but our guys did well with it.”
Barreiro capitalized the most, vaulting himself to second in the Ivy League with six goals and helping Penn recover from a mid-season dry spell in the process. After demoralizing losses to Temple and Penn State, the Quakers have bounced back, tying Cornell Saturday and outshooting Lehigh twelve to six yesterday.
“After the games against Temple and Penn State, we really wanted to try to get ourselves back on track,” Fuller said. “We’re still working very hard on trying to be a consistently good team. That’s something we’re talking about every day — we’re not there yet.”
