Disappointment in fall for M. Soccer

Despite winning six games this year -- a feat unheard of at Penn in recent years -- Penn men's soccer coach Rudy Fuller can't help but feel a little disappointed. In the preseason, his stated goal of finishing at or above the .500 mark seemed feasible, considering the optimism surrounding Penn's blossoming seniors and its talented underclassmen. A few short days have elapsed since the end of the season, and Fuller and the Quakers realize they did not accomplish their goal, despite the six wins. "[We were] very inconsistent," Fuller said. "Overall, we would have liked to have been .500 or better. We obviously want to win more games than we lose. We're certainly not satisfied with the overall performance and the results from this year. "We have got to become a more consistent team if we want to challenge for the Ivy League title." And yet, there is the feeling that the Quakers have accomplished something important, if not special. With a win against Harvard in its season finale, Penn was able to stop a three-year-and-change Ivy winless streak that spanned 26 games. Because of the win, many of the Quakers' tough losses this year seem to loom a little smaller in retrospect. Now, instead of having 10 months of self-flagellation on their hands, the Quakers can spend their offseason looking to a future that seems a little brighter. "We improved from last year, and that's important," Penn midfielder Alex Maasry said, speaking of the increased success the Quakers had inside and outside the Ivies. "That last win against Harvard is going to go a long way in shaping the team of the future," Fuller said. But before the team of the future gets here, the team of the recent past merits examination. The Quakers opened what could best be termed a roller-coaster season with a win against St. Francis (Pa.) at Rhodes Field, continuing a trend of strong play at home that began late in the 1999 season and only ended with a home loss to Lehigh on October 17. If the win over the Red Flash was a small peak for the Quakers, the game with Richmond proved to be one of the several valleys that they experienced over the course of the season. The Quakers traveled to Richmond only to be dismantled to the tune of 6-1 in a game that most thought would be competitive. But Penn came back the next day to beat a respectable East Carolina team, 2-1, displaying the same resiliency that allowed the Quakers to play well down the stretch after a 6-0 loss at Yale on October 20 that left them devastated. "I certainly like the way we responded to some very difficult losses," Fuller said. The season then transmogrified into a series of modest successes against non-conference teams and frustrating failures against Ivy teams. Sandwiched in between a 4-2 loss at Cornell and a tough 1-0 loss at Dartmouth was a heartening 4-0 win against Temple. Penn also defeated La Salle and Lafayette at home. But then the wheels fell off. A loss at Philadelphia University on October 11 was the first in a seven-game winless streak that included the Quakers bottoming out at Yale. After the debacle in New Haven, Penn lost a tough 5-4 overtime match on October 25 against an extremely solid Rutgers side that was playing at home. Fuller described it as one of the top five college soccer games he'd ever been associated with, and with good reason. The Quakers refused to let their light die in the match, repeatedly coming back and tying Rutgers before the Scarlet Knights' goal in the extra stanza clinched it. The loss at Rutgers seemed to spur the Quakers to play better soccer, but it didn't result in a victory until Saturday's triumph over the Crimson. Before that, Penn dropped two hard-fought contests to Princeton and the eventual Ivy League champion Brown Bears. Once the dust had settled, the Quakers were left with a 6-10-1 overall record and a 1-5-1 mark in the Ivies. "Being at .500 was a very realistic goal," Fuller said. "I think that there were certainly losses in particular that we felt that we let get away from us." The Quakers received several good performances this season. Maasry and forward Billy Libby -- both sophomores -- matured, as both had stretches during the season in which they were white-hot offensively. Penn goalkeeper Jeff Groeber also had a fine season, as he handled the starting goalkeeper's job admirably. He showed an impressive amount of athleticism and was savvy in the net. Seniors Henry Chen and Mike McElwain were solid in their final campaign at Rhodes Field, and newcomer Sam Chamovitz -- who scored the winning goal against Harvard Saturday -- injected much-needed offense into the Quakers' game this year after transferring from Bucknell. Defender John Salvucci's strong effort and efficient defense were also tangibly positive factors helping to determine the Quakers' fortunes. The Quakers' fortunes next year depend on the recruiting success of Fuller and his staff, and the vigilance of the Quakers themselves in keeping their skills sharp over the next 10 months. According to Maasry, the Quakers have been weightlifting since the season ended, and will begin player-coordinated, informal, unofficial captain's practices in a week or two. And Fuller is very optimistic about the recruiting class that will grace Rhodes Field in 2001, and suggests that when today's talented underclassmen take the reins of the team and learn how to be more consistent, they will complement a bevy of talented youngsters and win. "If we get a good class, I think we'll have a good team next year," said Maasry, who hopes that the Quakers' improvement and the physical improvement to Rhodes Field will attract recruits. "Certainly, people think I'm crazy, especially in the past few years," Fuller said. "But every year, my goal is to win the Ivy League title. "The bottom line is, it is very doable," he added, pointing to the state of play in the Ivy League that would allow a team like Dartmouth to go from a weak squad in 1999 to contending for the Ivy crown in 2000. "The beauty of the league is the parity and that any team can win the title in any given year."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.