Coming off of a 6-2 loss to No. 7 Penn State last Wednesday, the Quakers (3-4) will face cross-town rival Saint Joseph’s tonight at 7 p.m. at Rhodes Field. If Penn can top the Hawks, who are entering the match with a 5-1-3 record after a scoreless tie with NJIT on Saturday, the Red and Blue will secure the “Philadelphia Soccer Six” championship outright.
Three Up
Duke Lacroix and Alec Neumann: Senior forward Duke Lacroix and sophomore forward Alec Neumann enter the game against St. Joe’s leading the Quakers in points with 10 apiece, a total tied for second in the Ivy League. Lacroix enters the match riding a four-game point streak — tying his career-long. Lacroix’s 55 points earns him a rank of sixth all-time by a Penn player. Neumann has points in his last three matches, also tying a career-long point streak. He has also proven to be very consistent for Penn, with 24 points in 25 appearances — an average of 0.96.
City matches: The Red and Blue have played two city matches to date in 2014, picking up wins in both. Dating back to October 2 of last season against Drexel, Penn has won three consecutive matches against Philadelphia schools. In addition, the Quakers are 21-4-0 all-time against the Hawks, the last meeting a 5-1 win for the Quakers in 2011. Penn has won its last eight outings against Saint Joe’s, the last loss coming in 1995, and over the past eight meetings, Penn has outscored the Hawks, 29-4.
Penn’s substitutes: Penn has shown that it has considerable depth in its lineup. Freshman midfielder Austin Kuhn and sophomore midfielder Levi Levenfiche, for example, will surely remember each of their debuts as each scored in the second half to propel Penn to a 2-0 win over University City neighbor Drexel at Rhodes Field back on Sept. 5. Coach Rudy Fuller will surely be looking to continue utilizing his bench on the road to future wins.
Three Down
A hot St. Joe’s: The Hawks have gotten off to very hot start this season, standing at 5-1-3 overall. Their .722 winning percentage marks the program’s best start through the opening nine matches of a season since 1993. In their last seven matches, the Hawks have gone 4-0-3, which is the program’s longest span without losing a match in 41 years. Also, the five wins in 2014 tie the most in a season during the five years of head coach Don D’Ambra’s tenure.
Bobby Edwards: Freshman goalkeeper Bobby Edwards has been outstanding for the Hawks this season. Last week, Edwards made nine saves and posted two clean sheets in a 1-0-1 stretch to be named the Atlantic 10 Conference Co-Rookie of the Week and Philadelphia Soccer Six Rookie of the Week. This is the third Soccer Six honor of the freshman’s collegiate career thus far. Edwards owns a 3-0-3 record to go along with a Soccer Six-leading 0.32 goals-against average and .917 save percentage. The rookie currently ranks fifth nationally in GAA and seventh in save percentage.
Nonconference/non-city play: After the match against Saint Joseph’s on Tuesday, the Quakers are looking at the start of Ivy League play, with seven of their last nine regular season games scheduled against conference rivals. So far, the team has struggled against its nonconference and non-Philadelphia opponents. Admittedly, most of these teams have been highly ranked. The Quakers, however, will look to use the lessons learned against these highly competitive and highly ranked teams when they shift their efforts to their Ivy opponents beginning on Oct. 4 against Cornell.
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