M. Lax out of luck in loss to Brown

The Penn men's lacrosse team pulled within 5-4 in the first half but host Brown escaped with a 10-6 victory. Penn men's lacrosse coach Marc Van Arsdale said that he was expecting a "dog fight" in Rhode Island last weekend when the Quakers traveled to Brown for their last Ivy League contest of the season. Unfortunately, Penn rolled over and played dead for several key minutes during the third quarter in a 10-6 loss to the Bears. "After we trailed early on, I thought that we got control of play back during the second quarter," Van Arsdale said. "But then in the third quarter we had a lot of possessions when we didn't score. From there, we had to play catch-up and that is always difficult. We were never able to find the net enough to mount a significant comeback." The Bears (3-7, 2-2 Ivy) outscored Penn 3-1 in the first quarter. Senior All-American Jed DeWick struck first, just 4 1/2 minutes into the game, before Jeff Zuckerman countered for the Red and Blue. But 1-1 was the closest the Quakers came to victory as DeWick would go on to tally three goals and three assists on the afternoon. Zuckerman was hardly satisfied with the team's performance on Saturday, as Penn fell to 2-4 in the Ivies (6-5 overall). "Our offense was there the whole game but we just couldn't shoot," Zuckerman said. "I fell into the category of a person who got a few good looks but couldn't bury them." According to Penn senior Shane Lavery, missed opportunities were the story of the game. While the midfielder was pleased by the Quakers' effort in creating shots, he lamented their inability to capitalize on them, as Penn outshot Brown 36-34 on the day. "I guess it was a matter of efficiency," Lavery said. "We weren't crisp out there and we didn't take advantage of every opportunity. We don't have the talent to waste opportunities like that, we need them all." But shooting was not the only area where the Quakers came up short. Van Arsdale, Lavery and Zuckerman all expressed dissatisfaction at the number of ground balls that Penn controlled. The Bears actually trailed Penn in this category, 50-39, but according to Van Arsdale, more of Brown's possessions translated into goals. "They were sharper on ground balls," he said. "In tough situations, they were able to come away with the ball and that led to a couple of goals. They were able to capitalize on their opportunities, even though they may have had less of them." The Quakers put together a strong second quarter, matching Brown's three goals with three of their own -- one each by Bart Hacking, Kevin Cadin and Todd Minerley. Minerley's goal with 8:10 remaining in the half pulled Penn within one, 5-4. But Brown's Todd McNarama increased the Bears' lead back to two on a goal just 15 seconds before the break. Brown opened the scoring 8:40 into the second half and took an 8-4 lead just over a minute later. Pete Janney brought Penn within three at 11:19 but Jimmy Mormile scored his second goal of the half and DeWick completed his hat trick as the Bears built a 10-5 lead. Lavery picked up the game's final goal at 8:22 to make it 10-6. "Both the offense and the defense didn't have what it takes to beat Brown," Lavery said. "It wasn't like one guy beat us out there all the time and we couldn't stop him." Brown's Rob Lyle is the guy that usually beats opponents. Lyle leads the Bears in scoring with 22 points. But according to Van Arsdale, Penn senior tri-captain Ziggy Majumdar effectively shut down the senior attacker. "We knew that we had to key in on a few people like Rob," Zuckerman said. "Ziggy really did a great job. He played one of the best games that I've seen him play all year." Unfortunately, DeWick filled in where Lyle was missing. "We weren't bad but we weren't playing at our best and I think that they were," Van Arsdale said. "Some of their kids really came through. They got a huge performance out of Jed DeWick." A win in Providence could have guaranteed Penn a third-place Ivy finish and a probable spot in post-season action but now the Quakers' future is uncertain. With games against Villanova and two top 10 teams -- No. 4 Syracuse and No. 6 Delaware -- remaining on the schedule, however, Van Arsdale feels there is "still something to play for." "In the big picture, the loss [against Brown] was a little disappointing," the third-year coach said. "But one of the best things about this group has been their ability to put tough things behind them."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.