Tigers overwhelm Quakers, 19-7 PRINCETON, N.J. -- For the Penn men's lacrosse team, yesterday's contest against Princeton had "upset" written all over it. The Quakers were riding high after last weekend's 9-8 double overtime victory against Cornell, and the Tigers were just coming off their biggest scare of the season, a tough 11-8 victory over Yale. Princeton's rain-soaked Finney Field was in shambles, a clear advantage for the Quakers, who were looking to slow down the Tigers' high-powered offense. Also, the rivalry between the schools clearly added fuel to the fire as the Red and Blue looked to capture its first victory against Princeton since 1989. Unfortunately for Penn, the indicators proved to be inaccurate as Princeton lived up to its No. 1 national ranking, and handed the Quakers a crushing defeat. The Tigers (6-0, 2-0 Ivy League), who took advantage of Penn's errors throughout the afternoon, jumped out to an early 10-3 halftime lead, and finished off Penn late in the contest, to leave with an impressive 19-7 victory. "We made a couple of mistakes and they capitalized on them," Penn coach G.W. Mix said. "That's what No. 1 teams in the country do." Junior midfielder Andrew Greenberg gave Penn (4-3, 1-2) its only lead of the day with the game's first goal just over five minutes into the opening stanza. But with the score tied at 2 at the 9:48 mark, Princeton's offense kicked into high gear. The Tigers, led by junior attacker Scott Conklin, exploded for seven straight goals while holding the Quakers scoreless for more than 19 minutes. "They're a very talented team and they're a very well coached team," Mix said. "If you make mistakes they are not only going to take possession, but on most opportunities they're going to score." And Princeton certainly did score often. Conklin notched five goals and sophomore midfielder Jason Buttles tallied a hat trick. Senior attacker Taylor Simmers posted a career-high six assists along with one goal. Senior Kevin Lowe, a two-time second-team all-America attacker, also chipped in two goals and four assists. Penn finally stopped the Tiger assault when senior attacker Andy Gold slipped a shot past Princeton goalie Scott Bacigalupo, the country's best goaltender the last two seasons. Lowe raised the Tiger lead to 10-3 with a goal right at the end of the first half. The Quakers struggled in the first half mainly due to Princeton's aggressive defense. Penn had hoped to control the tempo on offense and work the ball around the perimeter, but clear openings on goal were few and far between. The Quakers only launched 22 shots on the afternoon, as opposed to a startling 55 for the Tigers. "They do a great job of packing it in on defense and making you shoot it from eight or 10 yards out," Mix said. "They're very smart and they have the best goalie in the universe." Much to its credit, Penn started out the second half taking it to the Tigers. The Quakers took full advantage of their first power-play opportunities. Junior attacker E.J. Youngling cut to the net and scored off the assist from sophomore attacker Andy Crofton. A minute later, Crofton fed junior co-captain Vern Briggs for a goal which cut the score to 10-5. Penn seemed to regain some confidence in the third quarter, but Princeton responded with four goals of its own. Despite aggressive checking on both ends of the field by the Quakers, the scoreboard still read 14-7 at the end of the quarter. "They're not perfect," senior midfielder Paul Duncan said. "If you work hard, you can score goals on them. Then again, we might score a couple of goals, but they get the ball back on offense and they do their thing. And once they get into a rhythm, they're hard to stop." The Tigers found their rhythm again in the fourth quarter and proved why they have beaten lacrosse powerhouses North Carolina, Johns Hopkins and Virginia. They posted five goals in five minutes and held Penn scoreless for the entire 15 minutes. Despite what the bleak final score may suggest, the Quakers did have stretches of fine play throughout the game. Sophomore goalie Steve Bassford came up with phenomenal saves despite being bombarded for all 60 minutes, and senior co-captains Steve Marks and Mike Tobin again turned in solid efforts on defense. Penn wasn't able to pull off the upset against Princeton because it wasn't able to maintain its high level of play throughout the game. The Tigers' stifling defense and explosive offense are largely responsible for that. The Quakers are left with mixed feelings. They suffered a tough defeat yesterday afternoon, but they realize Princeton is the best team in the country. "They've beaten a lot of very highly ranked teams as badly as they've beaten us," Mix said. "I don't feel terrible about it, but it's frustrating to know that when we played well, we were able to play with them."
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