Winkoff needs just 7 minutes to score

It took Corey Winkoff less than eight minutes to prove that he belonged in the men's lacrosse starting lineup.

The freshman attacker scored in the first 7:41 of his career and 27 minutes later, he ripped the net again in the Feb. 23 game against Drexel.

Now, six games into the season, Winkoff is second on the team in points, behind only captain Craig Andrzejewski.

Coach Brian Voelker isn't surprised.

"It was pretty obvious that he had a lot of talent," Voelker said. "He's got good vision, but can also go to the goal. One of the reasons we like him is because he's not one-dimensional - he can score goals, get assists, be a guy that rides hard, and he's done all those things for us."

In fact, with the freshman now into the first two-game goal drought of his career, he has been racking up points another way.

Winkoff has seven assists in the last two games - wins over Yale and Harvard - accounting for nine of Penn's last 11 assists.

He now leads the team with 13 on the season, after he had only two dimes in his first three games.

"Craig and I, we worked a lot in the week leading up to the game on feeding my guy and finding him, and the other guys worked well to get open," Winkoff said of the practices leading up to his six-assist effort against the Crimson. "A lot of the upperclassmen have a lot of trust in me, and that's a big thing."

As a result, he's earned his second Ivy Rookie of the Week honor, and the Quakers have started off 2-0 in the Ivy League.

While the Laurel Hollow, N.Y. native has often made it look easy, he's had his fair share of wake-up calls. In college, the players are bigger, smarter and faster.

"They [give] a lot bigger checks, the defensemen are pretty legit . especially Tommy Dodge; he's a pretty big bruiser," said Winkoff as the 6-foot-3, 205-pound defender walked by.

"We do a drill called 4-on-3s where coach rolls the ball out, and defensemen like to get pretty into that."

The defenders on the team try to toughen up freshmen like Winkoff whenever possible. Co-captain Max Mauro said Winkoff has taken it fairly well.

"I give all the attackmen a hard time," Mauro said. "I like to get into Corey's ear a little bit, but he's pretty level-headed; he laughs it off. He's not the one who's going to be affected by me chirping in his ear."

Winkoff talked about the need to get bigger (at 5-10, 155 pounds, he's the second-lightest member of the Red and Blue), cut down on turnovers and take better shots. He has put in the work to improve in those areas.

"I've seen unbelievable progress," Mauro said. "What impresses me the most is he's one of the first guys out and one of the last guys in. . That's why you see Corey hitting Craig for [four of his five goals against Harvard]. It takes some guys time to develop that work ethic."

Winkoff's coach said that he has continued to raise the bar for himself.

"He's working hard in the weight room, he comes out and does extra shooting, he's watching film," Voelker said. "He's doing everything the coaches ask of him, and he just has to continue to do that. He's obviously met our expectations."

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