M. Lax eager to face Ivy League-rival Yale

Having completed its preconference schedule successfully with three wins in four games, the Penn men's lacrosse team is set to begin the heart of its season -- Ivy League play. "I think these games have been good," first-year coach Terry Corcoran said. "We've had some success, we've got an idea of some things that work for us. "We're finding out a lot about ourselves. We're still trying to get the units together that work best on the attack and midfield, and which combinations work best on defense. We're starting to put the right ones on the field." The Quakers (3-1) hope they have the right ones on Franklin Field tomorrow as they host Yale. The 1 p.m. contest will be the first league game for both teams, and according to Corcoran, the Ivy crown is up for grabs. "We've scouted a number of the Ivy League teams already," Corcoran said. "I think it's pretty wide open at this point." The Quakers' immediate concern is the Elis (1-1), who have shown promise early in the season. After a 10-9 opening victory over Delaware, Yale hung tough against always-strong Syracuse before eventually losing. "Yale's a real patient team on offense," Corcoran said. "They seem to really have a lot of basketball concepts incorporated into their half-field offense. They pick and roll for the ball an awful lot. They've got a good group of athletes." One athlete the Quakers must stop is Yale junior Tom Zaccagnino, who Corcoran considers the Elis' top offensive threat. The attacker led Yale in scoring last year with 31 goals and 10 assists. Penn will also have to keep an eye on senior attackers Nick Deans, who was the Elis' third-leading scorer last year, and Tony Rousou, who led them in scoring two seasons ago. "They complement each other real well," Corcoran said. To counter the methodical Yale attack, the Quakers will try to force the action with an aggressive defense. "There will be some key matchups with our defense against their attack," Corcoran said. "It's going to be real important for our midfield to come up with the ground balls." And when Penn gets the ball, it will look to work its own style of offense. "I think we want an up-tempo game," Corcoran said. "We're going to have to get some good ball movement and get the ball in and out of our sticks." If all goes as planned for the Quakers, they will earn themselves their first Ivy win of the year. It would be an important step for a team that entered the season not knowing what to expect. "Everybody's pretty excited," Corcoran said. "It's pretty much a new group of kids playing together. It's taken a while to get used to each other. I think right now we're starting to get some cohesiveness, which is important heading into this game."