M. Lax looking to upset the Big Red

This defense thing can be pretty effective.

The Penn men's lacrosse team (5-1, 1-1 Ivy League) -- who is ranked 15th in the country -- hopes to ride its defense to a win this weekend over No. 12 Cornell (5-1, 1-0) in what could be their stiffest test of the season to date.

However, the Quakers need not survive on defense alone.

Senior midfielder Mike Iannacone received co-Ivy Player of the Week honors yesterday for his performance in the Red and Blue's 7-5 victory over Harvard on Saturday.

Iannacone notched a hat trick for the Quakers, including a crucial insurance goal with 5:13 remaining in the game. The senior now has seven goals on the season, second on the team.

However the buzz was understandably surrounding Penn's defensive performance Saturday, which included allowing the Crimson to score on only one of their eight man-up opportunities.

As such, freshman defenseman J.T. Fischer also received a weekly honor roll selection from the Ivy League for his part in the lock-down effort.

"He doesn't play like a freshman should at all," Penn senior co-captain Scott Marimow said. "He's a lot more mature. He provides a lot of depth. We don't lose anything when he comes off the bench."

That new defensive intensity is what new coach Matt Hogan brought with him from Navy, where he was the defensive coordinator.

During their first five games last year, the Quakers gave up 44 goals in notching a 3-2 record. By contrast, in their first six games this season Penn has allowed a paltry 36 goals.

"The talent level was pretty much the same it's just the different system," Marimow said. "It's the team defense concept and we're playing really hard."

The reduction in goals against average of nearly three per game has led to their high ranking and improved record.

Also, key in this year's defensive effort has been the play of junior goaltender Ryan Kelly, who has started every game for the Quakers.

"Ryan Kelly has been playing very well for us," Marimow said. "He's stopping all of the shots that he should be."

However, should the Quakers wish to keep up this stinginess this weekend against the Big Red they will need to contend with the other co-Ivy player of the week, Cornell senior attack Andrew Collins.

Collins notched a hat trick of his own in a win over Yale. The Elis are responsible for the Quakers lone blemish this season.

"Ours is really a team defense," Marimow said. "We don't really worry about individual matchups as much."

Defeating Cornell -- who have topped Penn three straight times -- will be crucial to the Quakers' hopes of gaining their first Ivy League title in 14 years, in what is shaping up as a potentially wide-open Ivy race.

Perennial favorite and eighth ranked Princeton has started off at 2-3 and looks vulnerable, even though their three loses were to the top three teams in the country.

However, their Tuesday matchup with the Tigers is the furthest thing from the Quakers' minds entering Saturday's game.

"The team philosophy is that the team in front of us is the biggest game," Marimow said. "We won't even start preparing for Princeton until Monday. Cornell is the biggest game of the season right now."

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