What a difference an extra week of preseason makes.
With the Ivy League loosening its restrictions on preseason men's soccer practice from seven days to 14 this year, the Quakers appeared confident and ready to embark on their road trip against Marquette and DePaul.
Two wins at the Marquette Invitational would go a long way to getting the Quakers' season off to a great start and erasing the 6-2 embarrassment they suffered at the hands of Seton Hall in last year's opener.
"Having 14 days gave us a chance to spend some more time on some points that we thought we could use some extra work on, and hopefully that pays dividends for us," senior defender John Elicker said.
Penn hopes to use these opening games to showcase the team defense it has stressed this preseason.
"Our mantra for this year is that we've got 11 defenders on the field," senior goalkeeper Drew Healy said. "Everyone felt very solid defensively in our scrimmage against Princeton."
Both Marquette (1-0) today and DePaul (0-1) on Sunday will provide tough tests.
Marquette dominated in its first game of the season against Bryant University, winning, 4-1. While the Golden Eagles have just one senior on the field, Penn coach Rudy Fuller is not discounting them.
"I think Marquette is greatly improved," he said. "This year is going to be a good one for them."
DePaul should provide an even stiffer challenge for the Quakers. Although they lost a tough 1-0 match to Valparaiso in their season opener, the Blue Demons return some key pieces from the team that went to the NCAA tournament last year. Those include junior forward Alex Mangan, who scored seven goals last season, and Big East Goalkeeper of the Year Brian Visser.
The Quakers, however, plan on sticking to their own game plan and are not worrying about problems their opponents may pose.
"We're just going to play our game," senior midfielder Kevin Unger said.
"If they have a good goalkeeper, they have a good goalkeeper. Then we'll just have to take fewer long shots."
The season-opening road trip also gives Penn the opportunity to break in its talented freshman class. The 12 seniors on this year's team hope the class of 2012 grows up quickly on the field.
"Going into their first collegiate competition, it's important that they get some minutes under their belt and spend some more time on the field," Elicker said.
With Penn's increased talent comes higher expectations. Anything less than two great games this weekend, and the Quakers will be disappointed.
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