Wildcats expose M. Lax's weaknesses

Saturday's game against Villanova is one the men's lacrosse team would rather forget.

Penn left Villanova Stadium on the wrong end of a 14-7 thrashing at the hands of the Wildcats.

"I can't think of one thing we did well today," coach Brian Voelker said. "Those guys outplayed us in every aspect of the game . We got to be much, much better."

In the opening minutes, however, there was no indication that the outcome would be a Villanova rout. The Quakers (1-1) got on the board early -- just as they did last week against Drexel - with a goal by senior attack Alex Weber only 39 seconds into the contest. Senior attack Garvey Heiderman added another tally a few minutes later.

But the lead wouldn't last long. The Wildcats (3-0) tied it by the midpoint of the first quarter and at the end of the period held a 4-2 advantage. They did not lead by fewer than two goals for the rest of the game.

"I think part of our problem is that we go on a roller coaster up and down," senior captain Craig Andrzejewski said. "They score, we score or we go up by a few, they go up by a few. We have to keep playing at a high level. We gave away one here."

Andrzejewski was the only highlight of Penn's anemic offense. He tallied three goals - two of them assisted by sophomore attack Corey Winkoff - and assisted Heiderman's tally. He was the only member of the team with a goal between the 11-minute mark of the first quarter and the five-minute mark of the third.

But even Andrzejewski suffered from missed opportunities, as both Villanova's senior goalkeeper Andrew DiLoretto and the post denied him. While DiLoretto saved 13 Penn shots, a few more deflected off the pipes. Still, those missed opportunities were unlikely to make the difference in a seven-goal game.

"We had a couple of unlucky plays," Andrzejewski said. "But we had a lot to make up there and we need to better our chances. We can't go down that much that early in the game."

The Quakers, ironically, held most of the statistical advantage. They were only outshot by one, and they picked up more ground balls, won more faceoffs and turned the ball over fewer times than the Wildcats.

But these differences were hard to notice, as Villanova seemed to possess the ball most of the game and played more physically across the field. They were also aided by strong performances from senior attack Tim Driscoll and senior midfield Matt Fritts, who had three goals each, and senior attack Tim Langan's four points.

Voelker and the Quakers know that they must greatly improve to be competitive against Ivy foes and, more urgently, against No. 16 Denver Friday. But they remain confident that Saturday was an anomaly and not the norm.

"If we show up and play our game, we'll be fine," Voelker said about Friday's game. "But if we show up like this, we're gonna have a long day."

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