Its season in tatters, M. Soccer pushes on

The men's soccer team is in need of a break tomorrow, and there'd be no better time to get it than against No. 15 Harvard on the Crimson's home turf.

It has been a tough season for the Quakers (5-8-2, 2-3 Ivy), who were shut out in their last two contests against Brown and Princeton and have lost five of their last six.

Now out of the Ivy-title race, Penn will try to play spoiler and ruin Harvard's chances, something they couldn't do last year. The Quakers finished second in the League and Harvard (10-3-2, 3-2 Ivy) took the title .

"Clearly we are disappointed we have been knocked out of the Ivy race," coach Rudy Fuller said. "That doesn't change the whole season's thought process to win the next game. We are going to go up to Harvard to try to win and knock them out of the Ivy race."

But last weekend's 1-0 loss against Princeton seems to have left a bad taste in their mouths.

"There was no secret if anyone was there watching the game that we came out very flat in the first half," Fuller said. "They got a goal to go up 1-0 and they deserved that based on how they came out and how we were playing."

If the Quakers do not attack at the blow of the whistle this weekend there is little hope for a win. The Crimson are known for their strong attack, as seen in their 5-1 defeat of Columbia last weekend.

"If we have a unified team working for each other on both sides of the ball we could play with anyone," Fuller said.

The Crimson might have an advantage coming off of their win over Columbia. Harvard also beat Princeton, 3-2, earlier in the season.

"We are going to go up to Harvard and try to get a win," Fuller said. "In any game we walk on the field to win."

This weekend the Quakers are also at a disadvantage, as starting goalkeeper junior Drew Healy may be out with an eye injury. His replacement sophomore Kevin Sweetland is now going to be thrown into the mix.

"Kevin played outstanding against Princeton," Fuller said. "We have more than one option as a goalkeeper and Kevin proved that this past weekend."

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