Double the trouble, double the fun for Penn men's lacrosse in win over St. Joseph's

Double, double, toil and trouble.

Trouble is exactly what the Feeney twins and Penn men’s lacrosse brought to St. Joseph’s on Tuesday night.

After winning the game’s opening face off, senior attack Danny Feeney charged to the goal and scored - all within a mere six seconds. It was a sign of things to come.

“I was able to get it forward and they guys were on my back pretty hard so good for them for being pretty fast, but I had a free left hand shot and I took it, closed my eyes and shot,” Danny Feeney said.

“That was big because last week we didn’t face off so well,” coach Mike Murphy said.

While the match was close throughout the first quarter, the Quakers ultimately dominated the game, pulling away in a 14-4 victory.

“We just kind of stuck to the plan and it was nice to see us do that because except for our clearing game, we really played well on every phase.”

Only two minutes after Feeney’s first strike, Hawks (1-2) junior Ryan McGee scored his first goal of the night to knot the score at one. But McGee, who ended up collecting a hat trick, ended up being the lone bright spot for St. Joes on the night.

Both teams went back and forth early, exchanging goals in the first period. It seemed as if for the first time in 11 meetings, St. Joe’s had a chance to overpower the Quakers (1-1).

However, the tide changed after a critical time out.

“Coach brought us in during a time out and told us to calm down, told us to keep our pace, set the pace and we didn’t freak out and it paid off,” Feeney said.

“Once we settled down we just kind of stopped them,” Murphy said. “Then we started being more consistent on offense ... and we got some stops on defense and all of the sudden 3-3 became 10-3 then 12-3.”

While the offense completed its shots and put points up on the board, the defense did its part to prevent another St. Joe’s goal until the fourth period.

Led by senior goalkeeper Brian Feeney, the defense stopped almost everything that came at it despite the Hawks long possessions.

“The unit’s been playing together for so long,” Danny Feeney said. “It’s actually my brother in net, he’s like an unstoppable force, like a brick wall so kudos to those guys, they were unbelievable.”

In addition to the defense, the midfield also proved to be a valuable asset. Junior Joe McCallion racked up two goals, the first in the first and the second in the fourth period.

Overall though, 12 members of the Red and Blue got through St. Joe’s goalkeepers Dustin Keen and T.J. Jones, with junior Isaac Bock and MCallion scoring twice each.

“That’s kind of the way we play,” Murphy said. “It’s not like we have an offense that’s based on two or three guys, or one midfielder, we just keep coming at you in waves and if you want to take certain things away from us you are just going to give us something else.”

After a loss to No. 1 Duke, the Red and Blue showed their strength against the Hawks. Penn will next take the field at home on Saturday against Denver.

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