Will third time be the charm for Penn men's lacrosse?

Third time’s the charm, at least that’s what the Quakers are hoping.

This Saturday, the Penn men’s lacrosse team will compete in its third Ivy contest. With two losses to two of the top teams in the league behind them, the No. 16 Quakers (3-3, 0-2 Ivy) will need to take down No. 11 Yale (4-2, 1-1) to stay within reach in the title chase.

“We are just trying to focus on the little things. There are no major changes that we need to make,” sophomore attack Nick Doktor said.

While the losses were not ideal, the team believes that they were not the result of a major error or mistake, but rather a function of the team slacking on some of the “little things” that ultimately caught up with it.

“We just need to adjust a few things and improve a few things and we’ll be in a good position to beat Yale,” coach Mike Murphy said.

The Red and Blue had a strong nonconference performance leading into the start of Ivy play. However, that momentum did not continue in losses to No. 14 Princeton and No. 2 Cornell.

“We had a good preseason which is why I think we were able to do that,” Doktor said. “The Ivy League is one of the toughest [conferences] in the country, and we started off strong against two of the toughest teams in the country, Cornell and Princeton, and credit to them — we played them tough but they got the upper hand on us both times.”

With losses in their first two Ivy games, the Red and Blue’s matchup against the Elis is critical. To improve upon last season’s 3-3 finish in the Ancient Eight, the Quakers cannot afford another loss. And if there is a year to show their strength, it is now with a talented senior class.

Facing the Elis brings with it a fresh opportunity for success.

“[Yale plays] a little bit different in a lot of ways, a little bit more of a half field team, unlike Cornell. Cornell likes to ride up and down kind of like we do, and they are also a very good defensive team and offensive team but they are different from Princeton,” Murphy said. “Yale is different in that they are more free flowing, but at the same time they have a couple guys that we really have to be prepared for offensively, on attack in particular.”

But Yale is not a new opponent, and it will be no walk in the park to down the Bulldogs.

“We are pretty familiar with these teams, and they are pretty familiar with us. It’s always going to be a challenge,” Doktor said. “We play one of the hardest schedules in the country, and we have the past few years especially in the Ivy League.”

If the Red and Blue can pick up some significant conference wins, then their victories earlier in the season against Denver and Villanova could be key in their hopes for a postseason run.

However, first and foremost comes the Ivy League slate.

“We are at a significant point here in playing the top three teams in the league in our first three games,” Murphy said. “We’ve had some success but we’ve also had some setbacks but we have to learn from both.”

If the Quakers can take what they have learned and apply it against Yale, then this will be their chance to turn it around.

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