Sophomore midfielder Griffin Scane evades Harvard's Lucas Hilsenrath on April 13.
Credit: Grace ChenBolstered by the loud cheers of the crowd, Penn men's lacrosse took down Harvard 15-12 during Quaker Days, securing their place in the Ivy Tournament.
Harvard (7-4, 1-3 Ivy) made its presence loud and clear with a vast deployment of supporters in the stands, but in the end, it turned out to be no match for Penn’s (8-4, 4-1 ) team or fans.
“We had a sense of urgency,” senior attacker and Penn’s leading scorer Cam Rubin said. "We realized that this was a big game [that would] secure us a spot in the Ivy League Tournament.”
Scoring opened early as Harvard opened the match on a quick goal 15 seconds after the whistle blew. From there, most of the game was a game of runs, with both teams quickly finding goals in transition though Penn started to build up an early 4-2 lead halfway into the quarter. That was when Harvard called a timeout and the momentum shifted.
The Crimson then doubled down on their defense, hardly giving Penn meaningful minutes of possession, and Harvard went on a fiery 4-0 run with attacker Sam King scoring 3 of them consecutively. The second quarter began on a brighter note for the Red and Blue after junior attacker Luke DiNola scored on a man-down opportunity, an improvement Rubin again credited to the team's urgency.
“I think with that urgency we were dodging harder … [we] stayed a bit bigger on offense … [we were] not as compact as we were early on,” Rubin said.
But the Crimson responded quickly as they proceeded on a 3-0 run, and the Quakers were left struggling to find an answer to their fast shots at the cage. Rubin came to the rescue with a two consecutive goals scored from way downtown — one from straight down the field and the other as in motion from the side of the field — as Penn brought the deficit to 9-7 by halftime.
In the second half, the Quakers' shots finally connected as junior attacker Ben Smith gave Penn some offensive momentum as Rubin shot in another a minute later, tying the score 9-9. Penn’s defense responded too, as senior defender Brendan Lavelle kept up with his man and stuck with him, eventually leading to a Harvard turnover – much to the delight and cheers of the crowd. Energy was high in the third quarter, as Penn continued scoring to increase the run to 3-0 and gaining a one point lead over Harvard. Even as Harvard fought back desperately and Penn’s defense fought even harder to keep with them, the crowd’s boisterous energy helped fuel them.
From the second into the third, Penn went on a 6-0 run as their offensive and defensive ends kept their foot on the gas and blocked Harvard from gaining any momentum.
“Ball was moving, guys were playing unselfish, and it was good lacrosse," Rubin noted of Penn’s run.
Harvard scored its first goal of the second half six minutes into the fourth quarter, after a Penn turnover, by King. King continued to carry Harvard’s offense by scoring his sixth goal of the game less than a minute later. Harvard, having founds its offensive rhythm again since the first half, shot a goal to tie the game at 12-12. With six minutes and 43 seconds left and the crowd cheering them on, Penn responded with a goal Smith threw in inches from the goal’s center.
Then, Rubin netted a goal assisted by senior midfielder James Shipley, his 11th of the season. “Let’s Go, Penn!” broke out among the stands with a minute left in the game, as Lavelle threw a long goal from all the way down the field, catching the Harvard goalkeeper unprepared, and the ball skid into a wide empty goal, effectively securing Penn’s victory in a wild finish.
“I made it a little too interesting at the end,” said Carroll, who ended up assisting Lavelle with the final goal.
It was a hard-fought game, with both teams forced to find the mental strength to fight through scoring droughts. But Penn came out on top thanks especially with a dominant quarter when they shut down Harvard’s offensive rhythm, from which the Crimson could never quite fully recover from.
The Quakers will take on the Princeton Tigers next Saturday, April 20, in Princeton, N.J.
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