Orange Crush: No. 2 Syracuse easily topples M. Lax

The Penn men's lacrosse team suffered a disappointing defeat on Saturday, losing 18-6 to No. 2 Syracuse. The Quakers' hopes of upsetting the Orangemen and extending their winning streak to four games were dispelled by halftime, after Syracuse's offense dealt a crushing blow to the Red and the Blue. "Obviously with the score the way it was we didn't play up to our best abilities," Penn junior Peter Scott said. "We didn't come out as hard as we needed to in the first half and we played harder in the second half. But being down 11-3, it is almost too much to overcome playing against a team like Syracuse." Syracuse came out hard in the first quarter, scoring within the first minute of play. Penn's Mike Iannacone responded shortly thereafter, tying the game at 1-1. The Orangemen, however, did not stay dormant for long, unleashing a four point hailstorm on the Quakers within a four minute period. Penn's Alex Kopicki ended the scoring for the first quarter with a goal at the 6:00 mark, bringing the score to 5-2. Any hopes of a Penn comeback were dashed early in the second quarter, when Syracuse went on another four-point run that brought the game to 9-2 with 3:39 left in the half. Penn only managed to eke out a single point before the Orangemen closed the half with two more points and a commanding 11-3 lead. "They started to pull away probably in the second half, when they just kept pulling on the goal and our offense was a little stagnant," Penn senior Kevin Cadin said. "They dominated the face-offs.... Every time we would get a goal [they] would win the face off and they would get the ball again so it was hard for us to get any momentum." Lack of momentum continued to be a big problem for Penn in the second half. The Quakers were only able to score three goals to Syracuse's seven for the half, as the Red and Blue had a difficult time containing a very potent Syracuse offense. "They had a run-and-gun offense. They really push the envelope when it comes to their style of play," Penn junior Sonny Sarker said. "It is more fast-paced than other teams we have played this season. Penn's loss to Syracuse most likely rules out any chance of an at-large bid for the playoffs. The Quakers, however, have set other goals for their final two games of the season. "I don't really think we were thinking about the playoffs in the larger scheme of things. We were just thinking about winning a lacrosse game," Scott said. "Who knows what's going to happen with playoffs, if we're in or out, you can't think about it that way. You just have to go out and play hard against Villanova and Delaware and finish the season on a good note." That good note may be Penn's first winning season in more than a decade. "Our team hasn't finished with a winning record since 1989. Being 6-5 right now, if we lose these two games that'll be 6-7 and you just feel disappointed," Scott said. "The past two years we haven't finished off the season right. It's important to take these games one at a time and work hard this week so we can get two good victories."

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