PHILADELPHIA – Head coach Rudy Fuller picked up his 100^th career win as his Penn men’s soccer team defeated La Salle, 2-0, in a Philadelphia Soccer Six match to open the 2011 campaign.

Senior Christian Barreiro factored in all the scoring with a goal and an assist, while sophomore Stephen Baker added Penn’s other goal. Freshman goalkeeper Max Kurtzman made eight saves in his first career start to record the clean sheet.

Baker started his sophomore campaign the way his stellar freshman season did – with a goal in the season opener. In the 4^th minute, he took a pass from Christian Barreiro just outside the 18 and burst down the right side and deposited a tight-angle shot off the crossbar and down behind the line for an early 1-0 lead.

In the 12^th minute, Max Kurtzman was welcomed to collegiate soccer with his first big stop on a low curling rip from the top of the box. The rookie made the stop with a dive to his left to get the first one out of the way and allow his defense to eventually clear the La Salle opportunity.

Penn had a chance to add to its lead in the 30^th minute off its first corner of 2011, but La Salle’s John McCarthy was positioned perfectly to stop Jake Levin’s header from the scrum.

Kurtzman again kept the Explorers off the board with a finger-tip stop on a header from La Salle in the 36^th minute following a free kick from midfield. The game grew in intensity during the middle stages of the opening half with a yellow card issued to each side and tackles getting aggressive.

Midway through the second half, Agyeman Botchway made his presence known by drawing a penalty kick for the Quakers when he broke in alone towards a loose ball and forced the keeper to drag him down. Barreiro took the penalty kick for the Red and Blue and deposited it low to the right post to increase Penn’s lead to 2-0 in the 68^th minute.

Fuller becomes the 10^th coach in Ivy League history and the fourth Quaker skipper to reach the 100 win plateau. Among current Ivy League coaches, he ranked second behind Princeton’s Jim Barlow who entered the evening with 114 wins. Douglas Stewart holds the Penn record for wins by a head coach with 250 from 1905-1943.

The Quaker, 1-0, open their home slate on Sunday against Saint Joseph’s at 5:30 p.m. at Rhodes Field. The game will be the first men’s soccer match in Penn history broadcast live online via the Penn Sports Network.

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