W. Lax loses in lackluster effort

After a tough 10-5 loss to Cornell last weekend, the Penn women's lacrosse team was hoping to bounce back with a victory over Lafayette, a team the Quakers beat last year. But the Leopards refused to bow to history yesterday, defeating Penn, 9-6, on Metzgar Fields in Easton, Pa. The Quakers have now dropped four of their last five games. From the start, the Quakers lacked the confidence necessary to win. "I think pretty much the whole game we fell apart," Penn sophomore defender Christy Bennett said. "I think we took the field with the wrong attitude. It wasn't a good start right from warmups, and it lasted all the way through." Lafayette struck first, taking the lead in the early going off a goal by attacker Heather McClelland, the team's leading scorer. The Quakers were able to bounce back, however, as junior midfielder Traci Marabella scored just three minutes later. After another Penn goal, Lafayette would score four straight to obtain a 5-2 lead. The score then see-sawed again, as the Quakers scored three unanswered goals to close out the half and tie the game at five. "We were playing scared at first and we didn't come out like we wanted to win," Bennett said. "They surprised us when they scored a couple, and so in reaction to that, we felt like we needed to fight back." While Penn tried to put up a fight, Lafayette slowly began to pull away after the break. The Leopards' defense became increasingly stingy, allowing few scoring opportunities and giving up just one goal in the second stanza. The Quakers also seemed to have problems moving without the ball and setting up for a scoring chance. "We've been practicing an attack that was working while we were practicing, but when we got in the game, we didn't do it," Book said. "We weren't moving." Penn's offensive struggles led to sloppy play on both sides of the field. "I think we were getting frustrated," Book said. "We were making dumb fouls." And Lafayette's rejuvenated defense was combined with continued offensive success for the Leopards. Lafayette put four more in the back of the net, including two by McClelland to give her four goals on the day. The Lafayette junior out of Springfield, Va., now has 26 goals in just seven games. "It seems like we just gave up," Book said. "We weren't hustling and we lost our confidence." Bennett agrees, adding her disappointment with the team's performance in all aspects of the game. "We never got a good midfield transition going; we never got a decent attack running; we weren't holding on defense. We just weren't ready to play today," Bennett said. The Coatsville, Pa., native claims that Penn's problems stem from a lack of focus on the non-physical aspect of lacrosse. "It all starts mentally. The mental breakdowns lead to the technical and tactical breakdowns," Bennett said. "We have a very talented team and great skills, it's just not working out because we're not getting our heads into it the way we should." Penn's second-half performance against Lafayette yesterday almost mirrored Villanova's overtime performance against the Quakers just a week ago. After the Wildcats gave up a goal late in the first extra period, the whole squad fell apart. Penn would go on to add four more goals in the six minutes of overtime. The Quakers continue to struggle with the problem of maintaining intensity for a full 60 minutes, as was the case against Villanova. "It's not that we can't do the [technical] things, because we can do them," Book said. "It's just being intense, and also knowing what to do [on the field]." While last year's squad seemed to have problems with lack of leadership and intensity during practice, this year's Quakers are having problems translating their efforts in practice into on-the-field success. "We just need to do what we've been doing the last three days," Book said. "We've had good practices -- we just didn't come out and play the game like we've been practicing."

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