Despite the losses of All-Americans Derek Potteiger and Ricardo Villar to professional soccer, the Penn State men's soccer team launched its 2002 campaign this past Saturday, poised to avenge last season's third-round NCAA tournament loss.
In what could be construed as an ominous omen, however, the Nittany Lions (14-5-1 last season) traveled to a saturated Syracuse field that had been pounded by rain for two straight days.
Though Penn State walked away from the match mud-spattered and drenched in sweat, they left with feelings of mixed success from the night's 4-4 exhibition tie against the Orangemen.
On one hand, the Lions surrendered four goals. On the other, they came through in the clutch. Penn State fought back from a 4-1 deficit to tie the game at four with 12 minutes left to play.
"We're happy at the fact that we scored four goals. But obviously we gave up four goals, and that wasn't so good," Penn State men's soccer assistant coach Marlon LaBlanc said.
More than anything, the exhibition served as a measuring stick to help Penn State hone in on its strengths and weaknesses, as well as the capabilities of younger players.
"We were pleased with the Syracuse game, but it's still early and we're still trying guys out in different places," LaBlanc said.
Tri-captains Ben Dawson, Brent Jacquette and Jorma Makipaa sat out the exhibition to rest and avoid injuries, allowing eager underclassmen to see some action.
Midfielder Trevor Gorman, a sophomore coming off a torn anterior cruciate ligament injury that kept him out of last year's tournament loss to St. John's, impressed coaches with a goal and an assist. Freshman Kyle Patterson also turned some heads with his strong defensive play.
"We basically used that Syracuse game as a tryout to give some of the young players a chance," LaBlanc said. "We got a good gauge on what we're looking for."
Though LaBlanc acknowledges that the team's playoff hopes would be in danger if it were to give up four goals a game throughout its 19-game regular-season schedule, he remains confident that the team can turn that around come the regular season.
"That's something that we know we have to be better on," he said. "We think we can fix that easily -- that's just tinkering."
Penn State hopes to fix that in time for this weekend's Ohio State Classic as its focus will be on defense, LaBlanc said.
"We're going into games looking for shutouts," he said. "When we go on the road, it's about going out there and not losing."
In the face of a tough weekend on the road against Richmond (13-6-2 last year) and East Carolina (7-11-0 last year), the only way the Lions want to come out of Ohio State this weekend is with a 2-0 record.
"We never go anywhere to pack it in and sit in for a draw," LeBlanc said.
