W. Lax finishes Ivies with win over Brown

Lacrosse is an up-and-down, back-and-forth game. Interestingly enough, those same adjectives can be used to describe the Penn women's lacrosse team, which entered another upswing when it defeated Brown 11-6 Saturday. The Quakers (7-5, 3-3 Ivy League) completed an inconsistent Ivy season by defeating Brown to finish fourth in the Ancient Eight standings. "We were hoping for a better result," Penn coach Anne Sage said. "But we had a marked improvement from last season, and we should be proud of ourselves." The Quakers, who have stressed the team effort all season, got a stellar performance from the entire squad. Both the defense and the offense handled the Bears easily. "We all played well, and we seemed to be clicking," senior captain Fran Maguire said. "The offense handled the ball well and waited patiently for the chances, and the defense seemed to shut them down." Though Sage and her players insist individual statistics are irrelevant, one cannot overlook the tremendous play of sophomore attacker Alanna Wren, who netted a hat trick, including the game-winner against Brown. "Alanna really played well," Maguire said. "She just happened to be the one who was on against Brown. It could have been anyone." The win justified the Quakers' status as the 14th-ranked team in the country. "We are proud to be recognized in the Top 15 in the nation," Sage said. "It's really a great honor." Though the Quakers will not be playing any postseason games, they hope to finish up the season strongly with victories in their last two games, the first of which is this afternoon at 4 against Drexel at Drexel Field. "We're psyched up for the Drexel game," Maguire said. "They beat us pretty badly last year, so we're looking for revenge." The Quakers' game plan is simple: stress the team concept, a concept that has helped the Quakers defeat two national powers, Yale and Temple, and play patiently on offense. "Patience has been the key all season," Sage said. "Against Brown, we had some great passing on offense. We really passed the ball around well and found openings for the goals." On defense, Penn hopes to continue the tenacious play which held the Bears to only six goals. However, as the Quakers have demonstrated throughout the season, the outcome of the game entirely depends upon which group of athletes shows up. This is a team that defeated two national powers, and after each win dropped contests to lesser teams. Consistency has been at a premium. The Quakers are looking for solid performances from everyone against Drexel, and should they play as well as they did Saturday, they should exact some revenge for the beating they took last season.