Offensive outburst powers Penn men's soccer

Sometimes familiarity goes a long way.

After three tough losses against top-tier opponents, Penn came into Sunday afternoon’s matchup with Temple on a downswing , but 90 minutes later the Quakers were back in their groove.

On Sunday, the Red and Blue were able to turn their fortunes around with a 3-0 victory against Temple at Ambler Field.

Penn (3-3) got a great performance out of junior goalkeeper Max Polkinhorne , who flustered Temple (1-5-1) with 12 saves to earn himself a clean sheet.

The Quakers got plenty of offense in a quick spurt, with the first goal coming from star senior forward Duke Lacroix off of a great pass from sophomore Alec Neumann in the 62nd minute. The goal made Lacroix the eighth player in school history to break 50 points. Three minutes later, Neumann set up junior midfielder Forrest Clancy for the second goal of the match.

The substitutes had a big impact for Penn in this contest, starting with junior midfielder Sam Engs , who scored off of a rebound just a couple minutes after Clancy’s strike. Coach Rudy Fuller had high praise for his reserves after the game:

“The subs were just fantastic, completely down the line,” Fuller said. “I’ve been saying, this is the deepest team we’ve had in years.”

Fuller was also pleased with the effort from Polkinhorne, although he did note that the high number of shots Polkinhorne had to deal with did not accurately reflect how well the Quakers played on defense.

Penn’s offense mustered only two shots in the first half, but the three-goal barrage over a span of five minutes put the Owls hopelessly behind in a game that had been tied most of the way. The Owls came away without a win for the fifth straight game, despite being on their home pitch.

The Quakers were very efficient in terms of turning shots on goal into actual tallies, failing only once to convert when putting a shot on target. Overall, Penn had 10 shots to Temple’s 18.

However, Fuller once again cautioned against overanalyzing shot totals, expressing delight over an offensive performance that saw the Quakers score multiple goals for the first time in four games.

With conference play beginning in two weeks, the Quakers got a much-needed win against a struggling Temple squad. However, they will face a much stiffer test in their next match on Wednesday night, when they visit No. 9 Penn State in State College, Pa.

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