Flingin' up north

He's the other co-captain attacker -- the guy who is sometimes overlooked but who has started every game of his college career at Penn.

He's the guy who led the Quakers to an upset victory over Cornell last week -- scoring four of Penn's eight goals and earning Ivy League Player of the Week honors.

Meet James Riordan, the perfect complement on the offensive end to senior co-captain D.J. Andrzejewski. Together, the duo has scored 36 goals this season and propelled Penn (7-1, 2-1 Ivy) to a No. 9 national ranking, according to an Inside Lacrosse poll.

"D.J. has always been the guy teams focus on," Penn coach Brian Voelker said. "We've been waiting for Jimmy to have a year like he's having this year."

After last weekend's victory over the then-No. 2 team in the country, tomorrow's matchup with Dartmouth would appear to be a relative walk in the park for the Quakers.

But Penn is too good a team this year to be overconfident; Riordan and Andrzejewski are too strong of leaders to allow their teammates to take Dartmouth (4-4, 0-0 Ivy) lightly -- especially since the Penn senior class, along with Voelker, has never defeated the Big Green.

"The biggest thing for us, especially considering how we did last year, is to realize that we are not good enough to look past anybody or anything," Voelker said. "We need to focus on the next game, and this week it's a huge Ivy League game."

The Quakers appreciate how hard it is to go on the road and win a conference game -- especially against a talented Big Green squad.

"It's pretty simple," senior co-captain Joe Shanagan said. "There is a lot on the line as far as our Ivy hopes, and the seniors don't want to get swept by Dartmouth."

On paper, Dartmouth is one of the weaker Ivy League teams. But it has faced an extremely tough non-conference schedule and has played well against some of the top teams in the nation.

Last week, the Big Green led No. 8 Notre Dame 4-2 after the first quarter, but ultimately the Irish prevailed, 8-7.

The Big Green has faced three of the top 20 teams in the country, losing two of those games -- to Notre Dame and Penn State -- by one goal apiece.

In its third game against a top-20 opponent, Dartmouth got crushed by No. 4 Maryland, 14-2. The Quakers, by contrast, have only lost one game this season -- a 13-8 defeat to Harvard.

Penn has picked the perfect year for a great season since Philadelphia's Lincoln Financial Field is the host site of the 2006 NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championships.

The Quakers are still focused on tomorrow, though. Voelker insists on preparing for the team's opponent each week and not looking too far ahead.

"It's definitely hard not to think about the postseason," Shanagan said. "Last year everyone went [to watch the NCAA Championships]. Even though we were 2-11, when we were sitting there, that was our ultimate goal.

"But right now, we're just focusing on tomorrow and getting a victory."

With a talented offensive duo and a confident team focused on the here-and-now, Penn's hopes for a postseason berth appear promising.

And a win over Dartmouth would bring the Quakers one step closer to that dream of an Ivy League title -- something they have not accomplished since 1988.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.