M. Lax unable to bounce back from early deficit

In a game stereotypical of most Penn men's lacrosse contests this season, the Quakers fell behind early before mounting their habitual late-quarter charge. But against Delaware (6-8) on Saturday, Penn's late charge wasn't enough, as the Quakers fell, 12-10, in their final game of the season. In a first quarter that saw nine goals scored between the two teams, the No. 20 Quakers (6-7) only garnered two. Five of the seven Blue Hen goals came from the stick of one man -- Jason Lavey. "Our defense just didn't show up to play in the first quarter and first half," Penn defender Steve Brown said. "You can't spot a good team four goals to start out with." Penn coach Marc van Arsdale also found the Quakers' defense -- or lack thereof -- to be the main cause of Delaware's first-quarter offensive outburst. "We didn't get any stops early. but then the defense played strong after the first quarter," van Arsdale said. In fact, the defense shut out the Blue Hens in the second quarter and only allowed one goal in the third. At the half, the Red and Blue found itself down by only two goals, and with 5:55 left to play in the third, the game was deadlocked at seven. Yet after the full 60 minutes had elapsed, the Blue Hens found themselves clutching a 12-10 lead. "The problem was digging the hole early in the game," van Arsdale said. "You leave yourself little room for error." This was the fifth time this season that the Quakers lost by a margin of two or fewer goals. This typified the Red and Blue's season, as more than one third of this year's games ended in such a slim defeat. Van Arsdale has not been surprised with the change of momentum and closeness of the games his team has battled in this season. "It's typical of Division I college lacrosse," van Arsdale said. "A lot of our wins and losses were tight games." Penn finished the season just short of .500 overall, but managed to break even in Ivy League play. The Quakers' 3-3 Ivy mark matches their best performances in the last decade. The Quakers, though, were not as enthusiastic about their 6-7 overall record. "In the sense that we had some close games we can look back on the season that way," Brown said. But Brown and van Arsdale are already looking ahead to next season. "We went .500 in the Ivy League and it's something to look forward to next year," Brown said. "There are things to get excited about," van Arsdale added.

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