M. Lax pushes top-ranked Hopkins to the limit

BALTIMORE, Md. -- With 1:53 remaining in Saturday's matchup between heavily favored Johns Hopkins and the unranked Penn men's lacrosse team, Penn senior captain Will Phillips silenced the Hopkins crowd, cutting the Blue Jays' lead to one, 10-9, with his fourth goal of the second half.

With a one-man advantage stemming from a Hopkins penalty during the goal, the Quakers dominated the final 1:53, mustering three distinct scoring opportunities in a desperate attempt to force overtime.

Unfortunately, time ran out on the Penn rally, as Hopkins senior goalie Scott Smith deflected Penn's final effort, a 15-yard missile from junior midfielder Zandy Reich, as time expired.

Opening the season against Lacrosse Magazine's No. 1 ranked team, Penn coach Brian Voelker was confident that his Quakers were prepared to slow down a squad led by five NCAA preseason All-Americans. After seeing his team nearly defeat a Hopkins team favored by many to win the national championship, his emotions were mixed.

"Right now I have two main emotions," Voelker explained. "On one hand I'm disappointed because we played a heck of a game and didn't win. On the other hand, I'm proud of our players. Hopkins is a very good team, and that was the kind of effort we needed against them."

Hopkins coach David Pietramala attributed Penn's ability to slow down his team's potent offensive attack to Voelker's defensive game plan.

"Penn did a good job doing what they had to do to play in this game," he said. "They created a half-field game, slowed the tempo down and kept the ball away from us. They were very disciplined."

After falling behind 2-0 early, Penn's inability to contain Hopkins' fast-paced attack wasevident.

"We didn't do what we really wanted to early," Voelker said. "We let Hopkins run on us and get some easy goals."

Led by first-team All-American Kyle Barrie, the Hopkins offense took advantage of Penn's early mistakes, mounting a 5-2 lead by the end of the first quarter. Barrie scored two of his game-high four goals in the first frame.

Despite Hopkins' early success, the Quakers continued to control the ball in their effort to slow down the Blue Jays' offense.

"I think if it's more of an up and down game, the number of opportunities our offense has increases," Pietramala said. "They came out, slowed us down, and didn't let us run. They have some nice athletes on that team."

In the offensive zone, Phillips was impressive, netting his four second-half goals despite constant attention from Hopkins' defenders. His third goal tied the score at 8-8 late in the third period.

"Will's a heck of a player," Voelker said. "He's physical, smart and a leader out there. Our guys rally around him out there."

Besides Phillips, sophomore James Riordan kept the Blue Jays' defense guessing with three goals of his own, one of which trickled past the Hopkins' defense with six seconds left in the first half.

On the defensive end, the Quakers benefited from a strong performance by goalie Ryan Kelly. The senior had nine saves on the afternoon, limiting the success of the Hopkins scorers.

"We count on him a lot --maybe too much sometimes," Phillips said. "But he's rock solid back there. He gives us a lift when we're down a goal or two and he makes a big save."

"Ryan was great," Voelker said. "He played pretty darn good and kept us in the game."

Though he wasn't surprised, Pietramala was impressed with Penn's ability to stay in the game.

"They did a great job. They were well motivated, well prepared and enthusiastic," he said. "If they play like they did against us, they'll be in every game in the Ivy."

Phillips agrees and feels that the Quakers have the ingredients for a very successful Ivy campaign this year.

"I promise if we play this well every game, we'll win a lot of games this year."

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