Things are finally looking up for the men’s soccer team.
After struggling through a tough season in the Ivy League, its perseverance finally paid off with two consecutive 1-0 wins over Yale and Brown. Furthermore, their success on the scoreboard has been matched with player awards for junior midfielder Loukas Tasigianis and freshman goalkeeper Garon Smith.
Coach Rudy Fuller attributed his team’s success to its willingness to take chances and to solid defending.
“When we do that we usually get the results we want,” he said.
However, the Quakers know they cannot afford to be overconfident. They are currently tied with Princeton for fourth in the League, with both teams even at 2-2-1 in the Ivies. The game tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. on Rhodes Field has implications well beyond the prospect of that extra ‘W.’
If the Quakers win their final two games (tomorrow and next Saturday at Harvard), there is still a possibility of clinching the Ivy title as well as an NCAA tournament bid.
Tasigianis was upbeat about the team’s chances.
“We have the momentum going into the last two games,” he remarked. “The whole team’s really pumped.”
Nevertheless, Fuller stressed that getting one over the Tigers will be far from easy, even on home turf.
“[Princeton is] probably one of the better soccer playing teams we’ll face this year,” he said. “We’ll have to be extremely alert defensively, and similarly to what we did at Brown, when we create chances we’ll have to take them.”
“I consider [Princeton] to be a dangerous team,” Smith said, echoing his coach’s sentiments, “but our back line and our offensive third are really up for the challenge as well.”
After two straight Ivy shutouts and a subsequent Ivy League Rookie of the Week award, Smith is riding a hot streak and is keen on continuing his record.
“I think [confidence] builds upon itself so I consider myself to be a streaky player on that nature,” he said. “I’m really confident and … hopefully that confidence will turn into a shutout.”
Meanwhile, Tasigianis was named Philadelphia Soccer Six Player of the Week. Like Smith, he downplayed his own role in Penn’s recent endeavours and praised the work of his teammates.
“I can’t take it only for myself,” he reiterated. “It’s not the award, it’s the win that we accomplished that has given the boost in team morale.”
If Penn succeeds in defeating Princeton, the team still faces the formidable prospect of facing League leader Harvard (11-3-1-, 3-1-1 Ivy) in Boston Nov. 14th in the final game of the season. Coach Fuller was focused on preventing that obstacle from worrying his side this week.
“Unless we beat Princeton,” he said, “Harvard doesn’t matter.”
