M. Lax reaches critical point in season today

For every team, there comes a time when the season reaches a critical point, and each athlete must look at him or herself to decide the fate the team will ultimately have. For the Penn men's lacrosse team, that time is now. After a humbling defeat at the hands of then-No. 1 ranked Princeton, followed by an embarrassing loss to Dartmouth, which marked the Big Green's first Ivy League victory since 1988, the Quakers go into tonight's match at Bucknell (7 p.m.) desperately needing a victory. Despite starting the season with high expectations and a Top 20 ranking, Penn (4-4) finds itself alone in sixth place in the Ancient Eight standings and out of the Top 20. In addition, the Quakers are now mired with offensive problems -- simple things like passing and catching have become difficult tasks. "I think a big part of our trouble could be attributed to inexperience," Penn coach G.W. Mix said. "The players are going up against some of the best players in the country. They're not used to that. They're also not used to having to carry the burden of running an offense. We don't really need any of them to do that. We just need them to go out and concentrate on those fundamentals. "Right now, however, [the players] are more worried about the bigger picture than the little picture. If they do the little things, the big things will come." In Bucknell (3-2), Penn faces a team that could give it some problems. Not being your usual Patriot League patsy, the Bison are having a solid season, led by senior attacker Justin Zackey. Zackey, who leads Bucknell with 17 goals and nine assists, is just six goals shy of being the all-time leading Bison goal scorer. Bucknell is also a hot team, coming off a thrilling 12-11 win over Boston College, in which it trailed 9-3 in the third quarter before scoring eight straight goals. In addition, the Penn game is looked at by the Bison as one of their premier games of the season, which should give Bucknell even more incentive. As a result, the Quakers could have their hands full in trying to regain their winning ways. "Bucknell is a solid team," Mix said. "They're very athletic, and are one of those teams which are on the verge of being a Top 20 squad. They certainly are anxious to play a team like Penn, to prove themselves. They don't get an opportunity to play teams that are in the Top 20 very often, and when they do, they get excited about it. Bucknell is obviously going to be looking forward to this challenge." Despite the team's recent problems, Mix promises no sudden changes in the Penn lineup. While drastic changes usually are a sign of a team in trouble, the Quakers seem to think that type of cosmetic change won't be the remedy for what's currently ailing the team. Instead, Mix insists the team jus needs to regain what it had earlier in the year when the Quakers were ranked in the Top 20 -- focus. "We're not going to make any dramatic changes," Mix said. "The team that lost to Dartmouth is the same team which won a lot of games in the preseason, and did some great things. It's just a matter of redirecting our intensity and concentration. We have to get prepared to play at that same level which we played at varying times throughout the year.?We need to get back to the basics." Tonight will be a tough test for the Penn team. If the Quakers can win, it might be enough to turn the team around for the last three games of the season, all of which are against Top 20 teams (Brown, Syracuse and Drexel). If the Quakers don't win, however, they may be in danger of putting themselves in an even deeper hole -- a hole which might make the team and fans view this season as a failure. "We certainly need to win this game, if for nothing else than our own mental security and comfort," Mix said. "The kids have been working very hard and they're very frustrated. They need to win. And I think we have a nice opportunity to get a win if we play very hard and play very well."