M. Soccer wins in ugly fashion

Quakers top Temple 3-2 in OT Yesterday's double-overtime men's soccer game seemed never-ending, and so did Penn's unfinished scoring chances. After taking 42 shots, the Quakers struggled to a 3-2 victory over Temple. Time and time again, Penn barraged Temple goaltender Ken Clark. But even when the net was wide open, Penn could not sink it. Fortunately for the Quakers, the Owls came out equally groggy. Penn senior Brian Brown led the Quakers (6-7) with two goals and one assist. After riding the bench for the first few games of the season, Brown came into the starting lineup after sophomore Max Englehardt quit. Since then, Brown has assumed a leadership role in Penn's offensive scheme. Against Temple (3-12), Brown was stellar. His most exciting score came at 63 minutes, 5 seconds. At midfield, Brown received the ball from Steve Marcinkiewicz and ran it down the field by himself. He nailed it into the net after dodging several Temple defenders. "It has been a long time coming," Marcin-kiewicz said. "He creates his own chances. He's been doing it all year. He just has had trouble finishing them before." Brown has not been alone in that department. The problem has plagued the Quakers since the beginning of the season. Yesterday's game had more than enough examples. Penn moved the ball to the Owl penalty box at 9:20 when the goalie tripped, creating an open shot. However, the shot was wide. The Quakers also failed to capitalize on 13 corner kicks. The balls went over, around, behind -- for all the time Penn spent around the goal, the ball never seemed to hit net. The Quakers just helped Temple's Clark improve his statistics with 22 saves. "We work on shooting and finishing every day," Penn coach George O'Neill said, "but it's really a confidence thing." Temple did not fare much better. At 11:18, junior defender Matt Stern passed the ball directly to an Owl forward just a few yards from the penalty box. The mistake almost gave Temple an easy goal. But even with Penn goaltender Andrew Kralik face down on the ground, the shot still hit the goalpost and bounced out. "We weren't really worried about their offense," Marcinkiewicz said. But in their last regular-season game, the Owls made enough of a threat to bring Penn's tempo up from a stroll to a jog in the second half. The Quakers literally walked around the field during the first half. When Temple tied the game at 1 in the 60th minute, Penn started to turn up the heat. Brown's big score came a few minutes later, but the Owls were quick to answer. Temple sophomore Gregg Beideman slipped one past Kralik to tie the game at 2. Penn's defensive lapses came after sophomore defender Alan Waxman left the game with injuries. Although Waxman's aggressive play left a few Owls limping around after brutal slide tackles, Waxman severely aggravated his leg problems that have been taxing him all season. With Waxman gone, O'Neill had to juggle his lineup yet again. "It certainly had a big effect on our defense," O'Neill said. "[Junior Gregg] Sexton did a good job filling in for the second half.?I felt that if we kept things tight in the midfield and the back, we could create some offense." Waxman may return to fire up Penn's defense in Saturday's Princeton match, but junior Pat Larco will not. Larco's overly aggressive defense got him a red card yesterday, and a suspension for the Princeton game. Larco is the only forward on the team that has scored this season. It doesn't look like Penn's scoring woes are going to improve anytime soon.