Soccer is in Brendan Sullivan's blood. The Penn midfielder grew up on a soccer field. His father, Larry Sullivan, was playing on a semi-pro team in Philadelphia when he was born and used to take the infant along to practices. As fate would have it, the player-coach of that team was Penn head coach George O'Neill. Brendan was kicking a soccer ball before he could walk, and began playing at age four. Larry Sullivan was his son's first coach. Father and son, teacher and student will face off tomorrow as Villanova (1-4-1) visits Rhodes Field at 2:30 p.m. Penn (1-3) is coming into the contest off its first win of the year, a come-from-behind victory over La Salle. According to the Quakers, nearly everything that had been troubling them in the first three games fell into place in the final 20 minutes of Wednesday's contest. "There was flow and finesse," defender Alan Waxman said. "We're switching fields better. We're moving the ball a lot more. We're playing a lot more possession. There was communication on the field." While the Quakers have been getting stronger, Villanova's defense has been decimated by injuries. The Wildcats will be hard-pressed to deal with Penn's athletic veterans, particularly midfielder Steve Marcinkiewicz and defender Matt Stern. "We have to make Steve go left and right," Villanova coach Sullivan said. "If we let him go forward, he'll kill us. We have to keep the ball on the ground with Stern. If we put it in the air, he'll kill us. And we have to stop Brendan." Marcinkiewicz, Stern and defender David Choi have also played for Larry Sullivan. They, along with midfielder Read Goodwin, have competed with many of Villanova's stars as well in high school or in club competition. They are all looking forward to the contest, though neither the Penn players nor Coach Sullivan were willing to say who had a knowledge advantage. "We've played against their players our whole lives," Stern said. "We know a little about them, but that's no different from them knowing a little bit about us." "They're all passionate players," Larry Sullivan said. "I know what they can do, but my ex-players always try real hard to beat me." The younger Sullivan leads the Quakers in shooting, but he has not scored a goal yet this season. The majority of the offensive production has come from Marcinkiewicz and freshman forward Steve Cohen. "Brendan's an artist," his father said. "He tries to paint a picture. He's also a student of the game, he studies the game and takes it apart. I like to see him do well, but I like to see us do better." This will not be the first time two soccer Sullivans were scheduled to face off. When the Quakers met Philadelphia Textile in their opening contest, Brendan hoped to be shooting on his younger brother Brian, the Rams starting goaltender. However Brian did not play that game. Both brothers were disappointed. Brendan was more upset with the result, a Penn loss. Tomorrow's contest is very important to him, both as an opportunity to perform in front of his father, and for the Quakers to get a much-needed victory. "It's quite simple," Brendan Sullivan said. "We need wins. It'll be extra sweet for me if we get this one. I'm interested to see what happens, rather than being anxious about it. It's more important for the team to go out there and play our style rather than trying to counter their style. And my dad will definitely be coaching." While Brendan Sullivan has suspicions about his father's game plan, particularly which defensive scheme Villanova will use against him, he admits there is no way to know for sure what will happen. "My dad's a guru," the younger Sullivan said. "He has an unorthodox coaching style. He also has a lot of respect for good players. A good player is going to do his good things during the game, and you're not going to be able to stop it. But if you mark the role players on the field, you can stop the good player's effectiveness. He can't do it by himself." Not even if he has soccer in his blood.
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