On a night when Penn’s midfield dominated possession for most of the match, it was only a matter of time before junior Christian Barreiro broke through the Bucknell defense.
In the second minute of overtime after a scoreless 90 minutes of regulation, a patented long throw-in by Zach Barnett was played by Jason Gorskie. He tipped the ball to an open Barreiro, who struck home a golden goal from the top of the box.
With the 1-0 victory, Penn reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2002 and won 13 games for just the fourth time in the program’s 106-year history.
“It’s one of the best experiences of my career, just to do it for the school and for the program,” Barreiro said. “Words really can’t describe it.”
With the bleachers filled at Rhodes Field, a group of fans heckling Bucknell goalie Marc Hartmann from behind goal rushed the field as Barreiro was mobbed by his teammates.
“That crowd was unbelievable,” Penn coach Rudy Fuller said. “I’ve been here 13 years, I’ve never seen anything like it. The students were fantastic. The energy and the spirit really pushed our boys on.”
Fuller said that Bucknell’s height on defense made it difficult to attack on restarts, so the gameplan focused on breaking down the Bison in the run of play.
In the second half, Penn did just that, outshooting Bucknell 7-2 and earning a 4-0 advantage on corner kicks.
Since Bucknell coach Brendan Nash’s scouting report said that the Quakers usually play with only one man up top, he was surprised when Barreiro — a first team All-Ivy midfielder — moved outside.
Nash said he considered making an adjustment, but decided to let freshman defender Mayowa Alli try to weather the storm.
That strategy didn’t pay off though, and the Quakers earned themselves a second round matchup with No. 2 seed Maryland Sunday at College Park, Md.
In 2003, the Bison broke then-No. 2 Maryland’s 23-game home winning streak, and Nash thinks that although “on paper, Maryland’s a better team,” Penn will have a chance to make a similar upset.
“It’s a game that anybody would want to play,” Fuller said. “I’m not sure many people are going to give us a shot, and that’s fine, but we’re looking forward to standing toe-to-toe with them.”
College Park will hardly be an unfamiliar environment, as Fuller spent nine years as a coach for the Maryland Olympic Development Program, and three Penn starters — Barreiro, Zach Barnett and Jake Levin — are Maryland natives.
“I’m a Baltimore boy, I know a lot of people from Maryland, I know a lot of people who go to Maryland,” Barreiro said, “but I’m a Quaker at heart right now.”
