The Mike Murphy era may have gotten off to a rocky start, but after a trip to the Rocky Mountains, the Penn men’s lacrosse coach and his team now have some momentum behind them.
Saturday’s 8-7 comeback win over Villanova at Franklin Field capped off an undefeated spring break and marked the program’s first four-game winning streak since early in the 2005-06 season.
The Quakers (4-2) will look to continue that success today in their final non-conference match, against No. 6 Maryland (4-0).
On Saturday, the Red and Blue found themselves in a 7-6 hole after the Wildcats’ Michael Vigilante scored with 8:35 remaining. However, junior attack Corey Winkoff and senior attack Rob McMullen notched goals just 13 seconds apart — the second scored with just two minutes left — to give the Quakers an 8-7 victory.
Just three days earlier, Penn had a considerably easier time dispatching the other local rival on its schedule.
The Quakers routed Saint Joseph’s 16-5 in a game that was over almost as soon as it began.
Junior midfielder Al Kohart scored just five seconds into the match, and Penn broke out to a nine-goal lead before the first quarter was over. The Hawks (0-6) added a goal to start the second quarter, but a 5-0 run gave the Quakers a 14-1 lead at the break.
Penn’s defense held up in the second half to give Murphy an easy win in his home debut.
The prior weekend, the Red and Blue traveled to Denver for the Face-off Classic, where they swept the host Pioneers and Air Force.
In the team’s first contest against Denver (3-3), Kohart led the way with five goals and an assist as the Quakers won 11-7.
The matchup with the Falcons (0-3) was a much closer contest. Air Force scored four unanswered goals in the second quarter, and the Quakers found themselves down 5-1 at the half.
Penn’s offense went to work, however, as the Quakers scored three straight powerplay goals in the third quarter.
The fourth quarter was a back-and-forth affair as neither team could pull ahead by more than a goal. With just under three minutes remaining, Winkoff received a pass from sophomore John Conneely and put it in to give the Quakers the final 8-7 margin.
Penn will now turn its attention to this afternoon’s contest in College Park, Md. The Terrapins are off to a strong start, including an 11-10 overtime win over Duke.
Terps Junior attackman Grant Catalino notched five goals in that game — including the game-winner — and earned Atlantic Coast Conference and Inside Lacrosse Player of the Week honors for his performance.
Averaging four points per game thus far, Catalino will be a major force for the Penn defense to contend with, but if the Quakers can keep up their strong play on both sides of the ball, then they may be able to pull off a major upset against the Terps.
A victory could be crucial in building momentum heading into the Ivy season, which begins Saturday against rival Princeton.
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