Fresh legs and fresh faces were the name of the game for Penn Soccer on Friday night.
In their first game of the season, the Quakers took down cross-town rivals Drexel (2-1) in a 2-0 rout. Both of Penn’s goals came from first-year players as freshman midfielder Austin Kuhn and sophomore midfielder Levi Levenfiche scored their first career goals.
“I thought the first-year players that came on did great, obvious Austin Kuhn and Levi [Levenfiche] got their first goals, but quietly Sam Wancowicz was strong at the back,” coach Rudy Fuller said. “All in all, it was a good performance.”
Drexel came into the game rather beleaguered following a strange situation earlier this week where lightning forced their game against Villanova on Tuesday to be nullified before the half, leading to a full replayed game on Wednesday. The weariness was apparent from the start as the Red and Blue kept the ball in Drexel’s half for much of the first half.
However, the Quakers were unable to convert any of their chances into goals in the first half and entered halftime in a 0-0 tie.
Out of the break, Penn seemed desperate to convert on their chances, and eight minutes into the half Kuhn took a cross and chipped in the shot to give Penn a 1-0 lead.
Just minutes later, Levenfiche, who walked on in the spring, found himself in the open field with a handful of defenders in front of him. With a few deft dribbles, the sophomore found himself in tight space and ripped a strike to the upper left corner to put the Quakers up by two.
“I got it about the half line and didn’t see a lot of options in front of me, when I play up top I’m usually the last resort, but I was driving with the ball and gaps opened up,” Levenfiched said.
“So I kept going for it, it got to a point where I thought ‘you know what, may as well have one’ and that’s where the magic happens.”
Despite Drexel’s best efforts for the rest of the half, the Quakers were able to hold down the win. Junior goalie Max Polkinhorne, who took over down the stretch last season, made five saves for the shutout.
Notable for Penn was the success of the substitute forwards, particularly for a team expected to be driven offensively by its two top returning goal scorers senior Duke Lacroix and sophomore Alec Neumann.
The Quakers take the field for the second leg of the University City Classic on Sunday against Central Connecticut State.
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