Issue date: 10/10/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Katie Rubin/DP Staff Photographer Captain John Elicker (7) and his fellow defenders are angry about their recent play. After allowing no goals in their first seven games, the Quakers have given up eight over their past four contests.

Penn men's soccer captain John Elicker has a chip on his shoulder.

That may be surprising, considering his 7-1-3 Quakers just lost their first match of the season and reeled off seven straight shutouts to open their schedule. But heading into tomorrow night's match at Rhodes Field against Columbia (2-6-1), Penn's previously impregnable defense has looked very vulnerable, surrendering eight goals in its last four games.

"It's about understanding that we've played poorly and being angry about it," Elicker said.

He feels that the team got back on track in its most recent match, a 2-1 double-overtime loss at Lehigh. Now, the Red and Blue are looking at getting back on the winning track, too.

With only six matches left in the season and little margin for error in the Ivy race, a defeat to Columbia "wouldn't be the end of the season … but it would be one that we might wish we had," according to senior forward Omid Shokoufandeh.

The Lions' record masks their dangerousness. One of their wins came against No. 16 Santa Barbara (No. 6 at the time) and their most recent loss was by just one goal at No. 19 Brown, despite the fact that they controlled the tempo for long stretches.

Penn is well aware of Columbia's capacity to play up to its opponents. In New York last season, the Red and Blue needed two late goals to beat Columbia, which was 2-5-1 at the time.

However, this year's Lions are vastly different from those of 2007 - eight seniors graduated, five of whom started last season's match against Penn.

One holdover from last season is forward Bayo Adafin, the lone man up top in Columbia's 4-5-1 formation. If the Quakers hope to avoid an upset, they'll have to neutralize him. The sophomore is just 5-foot-8, 164 pounds, but is fast, physical and accounts for over half of Columbia's goals scored.

In order to stop Adafin, Penn coach Rudy Fuller said that his defense will have to pressure him and limit his ability to get the ball in space and turn and shoot.

However, the Quakers, who lead the Ivy League in shots and goals per game, will need to exercise some caution in their offense. Columbia's 4-5-1 formation lends itself to counter-attacks, and the Lions are patient enough to wait for the right opportunity to pounce.

Fuller feels that his players got back "to showing who we really are as a team" against Lehigh, and that the change from the previous three games was more one of mentality than strategy.

Elicker echoes his coach and is confident that his team can beat Columbia if it plays to its potential.

"We just need to be concerned with ourselves," he said. "If we play like we did earlier in the year, we know we'll be OK."

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