Upset over top team has heavy implications

With five minutes remaining in Saturday's men's lacrosse contest, the Quakers jumped up and down on the Franklin Field sidelines, giddy with emotion over the possibility of beating the second-best team in the nation.

But then came a Cornell goal. And an interference penalty by Penn junior Mark Haase. And the Cornell attackers firing shot after shot at goalie Greg Klossner.

"They threw everything that they had against us," Voelker said. "It was a little nerve-racking; that was a very good offensive team. We were able to get stop after stop ... it was a big end."

Klossner was able to come through, finishing with 11 saves and holding the nation's No. 1 offense to almost seven goals under its average in an 8-6 victory.

And while the Quakers can already forget about last year's dismal 2-11 season, they can remember the last time they played Cornell at home as an indicator of how significant their victory on Saturday really was.

Two years ago it meant an NCAA Tournament berth for Penn. And this year it will likely mean the same thing.

In 2004, the Quakers rallied for six fourth-period goals in a come-from-behind victory over then-No. 9 Cornell, their first victory over the Big Red in six seasons.

The victory kept the Red and Blue undefeated at Franklin Field -- a mark it would keep for the rest of the season -- while solidifying its status as one of the nation's top 20 teams.

Although the Quakers finished with three Ivy losses that year, their victory over highly ranked Cornell earned them their first NCAA Tournament birth since 1989.

On Saturday, the Big Red came back to Franklin Field, boasting an even better squad that had not lost an Ivy League game since that loss to the Quakers in 2004.

And the same thing happened again: Penn pulled off the upset.

"We knew that the last time we beat them was on our turf", said Penn senior D.J. Andrzejewski, who was a key player in Penn's last victory over Cornell. "But this win was even more impressive, because they were one of the top teams in the nation."

The Quakers will already benefit from such an auspicious start to the season, with last weekend's loss to Harvard as the only blemish on the team's schedule.

And if the Quakers can manage to win a few more Ivy League contests, they will be in very good position to capture their first Ivy title since 1988.

But even if Penn does not finish at the top of the Ancient Eight, history says that the Quakers will have a good chance of earning their second NCAA Tournament birth in three years.

And all it took was a win over Cornell.

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