Crimson duo demolishes M. Lax early

Penn never recovers after No. 9 Harvard jumps out to a 7-1 first period lead "Let me think," Penn coach Terry Corcoran said with a loud chuckle when asked about any positives regarding Saturday's 21-5 thumping by Harvard. It was that kind of day for the Penn men's lacrosse team. The Crimson (3-0, 2-0 Ivy League), ranked No. 19 in the country, supplied early fireworks for their Cambridge fans as they stormed to a 7-1 first quarter lead. "It was a tough game," Corcoran said. "They jumped on us early and we just never really recovered." The Quakers (3-3, 0-2) continued the pattern that did them in against Yale the week before -- giving up bunches of goals in a short time span. Corcoran and the players attributed these breakdowns to Penn's poor play on faceoffs and ground balls. Harvard won an amazing 21 of 27 faceoffs and 59 of 80 ground balls. "There comes a point were we have to say to each other 'enough' and dig in a little bit and stop that," said freshman attacker John Ward, who scored two goals for the Quakers in the second quarter. "I don't really have an explanation. It starts with faceoffs and ground balls -- that's where our problems really start. We have the talent on the team. We have the players. We have the coaches. Sometimes it seems we don't have the desire. We just have to find it as a team to dig in and come back after a couple of goals are scored on us." Penn had a similar problem with faceoffs and ground balls against Yale, but it was able to keep the score close against the Elis. Harvard -- specifically its duo of 6-foot attackers, Mike Eckert and Jamie Ames -- was too talented to let the Quakers get away with their miscues. Eckert registered 12 points against Penn with five goals and seven assists. Ames added six goals for good measure. "They had a great day on faceoffs," senior captain Andy Greenberg said. "That enabled them to control the ball for a long time. They have a really talented team on attack and they don't mistakes like some other teams do." Along with the Quakers' porous defense, which gave up 50 shots to the Crimson sharp shooters, the offense had its own problems. Although Penn managed 39 shots, only five balls were able to find the inside of the net. Harvard goalie Rob Lyng and backup Kawica Chetron combined to record 22 saves. Along with Ward, only junior attacker Andy Crofton and senior midfielder Brian Napolitano managed to break through the Lyng-Chetron shield. "I don't think we played well [offensively]," Ward said. "Once we did get the ball there was a sense of urgency instead of settling down." With offensive and defensive deficiencies, it is no wonder that Corcoran -- after a few seconds of thought -- said Penn's goaltending was the highlight. One thing for sure is that the Quakers' goalie, sophomore Travis Heinrichs, was certainly busy.