Men's Soccer advances in NCAAs

Both teams were beginning to drag heading into overtime tied at zero in the first round of the NCAA Playoffs, when a freshman stepped up and made history for his team.

Penn freshman defender Erik Violante scored a penalty kick three minutes into overtime, giving the No. 25 Penn men's soccer team (12-3-1 overall, 5-1-1 Ivy League) its first NCAA College Cup win since 1973. The Quakers defeated Seton Hall (9-8-3 overall, 5-5 Big East), 1-0.

"It was just euphoria," Violante said. "The minute I hit it, I knew it had some pace on it. It was a hard ball."

Violante, who hails from Paris, France, has taken all of the Quakers' penalty kicks this season. He had already netted two this year before Saturday-- one against Drexel and one against Harvard.

"He's our best PK kicker," Penn coach Rudy Fuller said. "Nothing seems to rattle him. He's a very mature kid at a young age. He doesn't carry himself as a freshman, so I had the utmost confidence that he was going to be able to stick it in."

The penalty kick came after Penn sophomore forward David Maier was fouled inside the box.

"Their sweeper or stopper stepped up and I knew they wanted the one I was going for," Maier said. "I just played it behind them and ran around and somebody snagged my shirt from behind and stopped my progress."

Even the players were surprised by the call coming at such a crucial time.

"This is college soccer, you can't expect anything from the refs," Maier said. "I really wasn't sure what was going to happen, but the play stopped and people were already celebrating."

Coming into the game, the Quakers were looking for more than just their first NCAA tournament win in 29 years, they were looking to avenge their first loss of the season.

In that game, the Red and Blue fell to the Pirates, 1-0. However, the players felt that the current squad would be able to avenge that defeat and dominate the game.

"The Penn team that played in the first round of the NCAA Tournament is very different than the team that played in the first game of the season," Violante said. "In the first game, Seton Hall was the Big East team that had kind of an aura to it, but as the season progressed, you could see we're a stronger team."

The first 90 minutes were marked by what has become Penn's signature style of play.

The Quakers played a very defensive game, taking only two shots in the first half.

Penn junior goalkeeper Matt Haefner, the Ivy League player of the year, recorded four saves in the game. The shutout was his tenth of the season.

Also contributing to the low-scoring game were the winds that gusted across the field at up to 25 miles per hour. In addition, the field was saturated from several previous days of rain.

"I think the conditions played a major role," Fuller said. "We knew that the field was going to be choppy and that the wind was going to play a role.

"I don't think either team was really able to play the way they wanted to play, but I think both teams dealt with it the best they could."

Round 2 of the NCAA College Cup takes the Quakers to Storrs, Conn., to face the No. 7 University of Connecticut Huskies. The game will be played Wednesday at 1 p.m.

"Connecticut is a very good team," Fuller said. "We're going to have to go up there and play our best to get the result we want."

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