It's that time of year again for the Penn men's soccer team. Time to wake up at 5 a.m. in order to make it to Rhodes Field in time for Breakfast Club.
The two most dreaded words for any member of the defending Ivy League Championship team are definitely Breakfast Club.
Head Coach Rudy Fuller starts his team's preseason preparation with a week of three-a-day practices, which includes a 6 o'clock Breakfast Club meeting every morning.
Breakfast Club doesn't involve scrimmaging or working on skills. Instead, the members of the team basically run sprints for an hour as the sun rises above the Philadelphia skyline.
"We are usually one of the fittest teams because of Breakfast Club," senior co-captain and 2002 Ivy League Player of Year Matt Haefner said. "Breakfast Club is definitely not the most enjoyable part of preseason, but it gets everyone in pretty ridiculous shape."
The Quakers and Fuller will use their preseason practices as a chance to prepare themselves for another run at the Ivy League title.
Penn captured its first league crown in 22 years last season and defeated Seton Hall, 1-0, to advance to the second round of the NCAA College Cup, before falling to Connecticut, 4-0.
It was the Quakers' first trip to the College Cup in 25 years.
Returning six All-Ivy selections and nine starters should allow the Quakers to continue their strong play and prove that last season was not a fluke.
"We want to win the Ivy League title again, first and foremost, and advance beyond the second round in the NCAA Tournament," junior defender and co-captain Erik Hallenbeck said.
"One of the other goals we have discussed is creating a winning program. Last year was a good season at 12-4-1, but one season doesn't make a program."
Haefner echoed Hallenbeck's thoughts about proving the legitimacy of the Penn program.
"We want to keep everything going like it did last year," the senior goalkeeper said. "We want to prove that last year wasn't luck or a mistake, but that Penn is a real program."
The perception of the Penn soccer program on the national stage is quite varied. The Quakers are ranked as high as No. 17 by College Soccer News but only received a few votes in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America preseason poll.
The Quakers will look to leave no doubt as to whether they are a top-level program in the minds of their competition when they open their season against Lehigh on Sept. 12 in the Penn Soccer Classic.
In 2002, Lehigh was the only non-league foe to defeat the Quakers in regular season play. The Engineers scored a goal in the final minute to win by a score of 1-0.
Lehigh's "style of play is very difficult to deal with. They don't have the most talented players, but they play so well as a unit and defend extremely well," Hallenbeck said. "They are going to be a similar team to last year, but we are so anxious to see them on the field again."
Many of the Red and Blue's Ivy League competitors will be anxious to meet them on the field for a shot at knocking off the defending Ancient Eight champions.
"We know people are gunning for us, and we have to be ready for every game," junior forward Stephen Kroculick said. "We are more or less the target for other teams.
"They are looking to beat us, and they figure if they beat us, then maybe they can get into the top 25 and earn some national recognition."
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