Same team, whole new game

No one would have guessed that a team unranked in the preseason polls could be having such a spectacular season.

But that's been the story of Penn men's lacrosse so far.

With virtually the same roster from last year's dismal season, the Quakers have made a complete turnaround, winning seven of their first eight games and placing themselves in serious contention for their first Ancient Eight title since 1988.

When the naysayers started to question the team after its first loss of the season to Harvard, the Quakers responded with an emphatic upset victory over No. 2 Cornell -- the highest-ranked opponent the Quakers have defeated under fourth-year coach Brian Voelker.

"The win over Cornell is huge for our program," Voelker said. "It puts us in good contention in the Ivies and is great for all the seniors who worked so hard."

With a great victory comes great respect; Penn is now ranked No. 9 in the nation in Inside Lacrosse's media poll -- its highest ranking ever under Voelker.

Penn also has the sixth-best power rating in Division I, according to the LaxPower.com college computer rankings. The Quakers are ranked slightly ahead of Ivy powerhouse Princeton, which hosts Penn next week but has already suffered two losses this season.

So why has the team been able to make a complete 180 with the same players from last year's 2-11 squad?

According to Voelker, the answer is just that -- they are returning players now benefiting from a year's worth of experience.

"We have much more depth and much more athleticism than we had last year," Voelker said. "But the real thing has been our senior leadership."

Voelker was referring to seniors James Riordan and D.J. Andrzejewski, who are both posting career numbers this season , leading the team with 18 goals each.

The co-captains combined for six goals in Penn's victory over Cornell and were seemingly the only answer against the Big Red's vaunted defense.

Andrzejewski and Riordan "have stepped up and refused to lose games," Voelker said. "They made our kids work hard all year, and it's made a big difference."

The Quakers have also received offensive support from junior David Cornbrooks, who has already equaled his previous career goal tally with 12 so far this season.

But the Quakers were always able to put the ball in the net. The main difference is that last year they couldn't hold on to leads.

Junior goalie Greg Klossner has made a tremendous improvement from last year, when the Quakers allowed at least 10 goals in six separate losses.

This year, Klossner is third in the Ivy League in goals-against-average, giving up 6.8 goals per game.

"I think a big thing you look at is, number one, our goalie," Penn senior defenseman Joseph Shanagan said. "Kloss[ner] is playing like a beast."

Klossner shined in last week's victory, during which he tallied 11 saves and withstood a flurry of shots from the Big Red in the final five minutes.

"Number two, our offense is keeping away the ball a lot more, giving less pressure to our defense," Shanagan added.

The Quakers still have some work to do in the Ivies to secure an automatic NCAA Tournament berth, including back-to-back road games against Dartmouth and Princeton.

But the team appears confident that it has already put the Harvard loss behind it.

"We definitely play a whole team game," Andrzejewski said. "I really feel every time we step on the field we expect to win, and that's something we haven't had in the last couple of years."

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