Penn men's soccer conjures last minute magic

Sometimes you just need to be in the right place at the right time.

With less than a minute remaining and the match tied at three goals apiece, junior midfielder Forrest Clancy sent a perfect cross from the left side of the post to senior forward Duke Lacroix to give Penn men’s soccer a game-winning goal against Central Connecticut State.

“I was trying to get to the near post when I saw Forrest [Clancy] going down the line, and the keeper just put it back down near my feet,” Lacroix said. “Fortunately, I was in the right place at the right time and at that point it was a simple tap in.”

The 4-3 win pushed the Quakers to 2-0 overall after their 2-0 win against Drexel on Friday.

Against the Blue Devils (1-1), Penn seemed to have its hands full from the start. Defensive lapses allowed CCSU’s Keir Hannity to net the game’s first goal just over a minute into the match.

Yet the Quakers would respond, and powerfully. Sophomore forward Alec Neumann found the back of the net for the first time this season just eight minutes later after a shot from Lacroix was saved. In the 25th minute, Neumann netted his second goal of the match off a low cross from freshman back Luka Martinovic.

Ahead 2-1, the Red and Blue weren’t finished as a goal from junior back Sam Engs would push the Quakers up to a two-goal lead in the 28th minute. And though Penn would coast into halftime ahead by two, there were plenty of opportunities they left on the table throughout.

“We just need to finish our chances. We still played a good game, a little more poise in the box and we could have put this away,” Lacroix said. “They did a good job battling back, but we held through it.”

Late in the second half, the intensity began to pick up. A penalty kick in the 59th minute allowed CCSU back into the game, and in the 88th, Dominic Plant netted a loose ball for the equalizer.

And so the stage was set for the Quakers. Lacroix and Clancy answered the call.

In Penn’s opening weekend, it was clear that the team had some kinks to work out, yet was still able to come away with two wins against strong opponents.

Drexel was an NCAA Tournament team last season and claimed early season wins against Temple and Villanova before falling to the Quakers, while CCSU was picked to finish first in the NEC after finishing as regular season champion last year.

“This weekend was a grind. Central Connecticut [State] is a really good team and they battled all 90 minutes,” Lacroix said.

“We found a way to get a result when it was close. They fought back and they kept throwing punches, but we dealt with the punches and punched back.”

Notable for Penn this weekend was the emergence of new players having significant impacts on the game. The match against Drexel saw both goals scored by newcomers in freshman Austin Kuhn and sophomore Levi Levenfiche, while freshman Luka Martinovic played impressively against CCSU on Sunday.

Next weekend will see the Quakers once again take on two tough nonconference opponents, this time in the form of Seattle and Washington. Both teams are ranked in the top 25 nationally, with Washington at No. 4 and Seattle at No. 22.

“We gave ourselves two challenging games out of the gate, and we passed those tests,” coach Rudy Fuller said.

“That being said, we need to demand more from ourselves going forward.”

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