W. Lax opens year with scrimmages

Coming off of a fifth-place finish in the Ivy League last year, the Penn women's lacrosse team began this year's season with three scrimmages against Syracuse, Towson and Ohio State this weekend.

With eight freshmen and eleven returning starters, the Quakers enter the season with high expectations -- a season that will feature four new top-20 teams on the schedule.

Christy Bennet will largely carry this year's squad after being named a regional All-American each of the past two seasons. Junior Chrissy Book also returns from a regional All -American season and will look to key a very deep midfield this season.

While this weekend's games did not count as official results, Penn coach Karin Brower used them to test all aspects of the team's play.

"I was most impressed with our ability to pick up the level when things were not going well," Penn junior Alaina Harper said.

Penn played a full 60-minute game against Syracuse, but the other two matches were 30 minutes each.

Beginning the day against national powerhouse Syracuse, Penn was overwhelmed by the Orangemen's superior quickness and athletic ability en route to an 11-5 loss.

"Syracuse kind of shocked us," Brower said. "They were very fast and athletic."

Syracuse enters the season ranked tenth in Lacrosse Magazine's 2002 preseason rankings. The Orangemen boast last year's Big East midfielder of the year, a third-team All-American.

"It was really good to match up against a worthy opponent, and see where we need to be," Harper said.

After the Syracuse match, Penn quickly rebounded, noticeably improving on its previous play.

"There was definitely improvement throughout the day," Brower said. "It proves to ourselves what we need to work on."

Penn went on to tie Towson, 6-6, before beating Ohio State, 7-6, in 30-minute matches.

The preseason scrimmages also gave the eight freshmen opportunities to establish themselves as contributors to the team -- three rookies started over the course of the day. The freshmen, like the rest of the team, improved as the day progressed.

"They started to get more confidence as the day went on. They worked on geling together," Brower said. "It's a big freshmen class, and they all contributed throughout the day."

Coming directly off a matchup against the No. 10 ranked team in the country, Penn will begin its regular season on March 2 at No. 9 James Madison.

The Dukes return nine starters to this year's team and look to participate in their sixth consecutive NCAA tournament.

With two weeks remaining until its first official match, Penn will look to build upon what it was able to achieve during the exhibition matches.

"I think we're going to have to make sure that we refine basic skills," Harper said.

"We are almost great. It's just going to take a little bit more."

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