M. Lax falls to elusive Elis

The Penn men's lacrosse team had high hopes for its first Ivy League contest. The Quakers expected a tightly-fought battle with a Yale team that was similarly plagued with injuries. They planned to play an up-tempo game. And, of course, they wanted to silence the doubters and emerge with a win over the No. 20 Elis. The Quakers found out just how bad two out of three is to take. They lost 16-13 to Yale Saturday at Franklin Field. The first quarter belonged to the Quakers. Penn sophomore attacker Jon Cusson scored the first goal of the contest within 45 seconds. Yale midfielder Watts Humphrey responded only two minutes later, but, led by senior defenders Scott Ignall and Kelleigh Faldi, Penn was able to contain the Elis' offense. "We made some major errors, but our guys hung in there," Yale coach Mike Waldvogel said. "In the first half, their defense was kind of swarming. We had unforced turnovers." Freshman attacker John Ward scored with 3 minutes, 53 seconds remaining to put the Quakers into the lead going into the second period. The second period decided the game. Sophomore goalie Travis Heinrichs and the Penn defense allowed five goals within a 2:40 span. Three of those scores were tallied by Yale junior attacker Tom Zaccagnino. Penn seemed in shock after each successive Yale goal and allowed another with 8:08 remaining in the period. Though Cusson responded with a goal of his own, Zaccagnino scored two more before halftime. The Quakers went into the break down 9-4, a dispirited and frustrated squad. "We got off to a real slow start," Ward said. "It seemed like after that, every goal we scored they would match it with one or two quick ones. It was good we could come back toward the end, but we can't get ourselves down in a hole like that." Yale seemed to be in control early in the second half. Senior midfielder Nick Deans scored a goal with 51 seconds gone. Each team connected five times in the 15-minute period. "We were worried about attrition," Yale coach Waldvogel said. "They got to us in the second half by wearing us down." Penn's transition game was questionable Saturday. The midfielders appeared tired, allowing the more experienced Elis to outrun them. The Quakers could not catch up. Though he did not figure into the scoring, Yale midfielder Brian Wilhelm was an integral part of the Quakers' loss. Thanks to Wilhelm, the Elis won nearly all the faceoffs. Cited as a key threat before the game, Zaccagnino was too elusive for the Penn defenders. Yale's leading scorer last year, he topped all players Saturday with six goals and an assist. Humphrey added four goals and an assist for Yale. Junior midfielders Devon Archer and Brendan Doyle contributed two goals apiece. "The transition was the difference," Waldvogel said. "The defense had to adjust to the ball coming down, and Zaccagnino is very good at moving. Once he gets inside, he doesn't miss very often." Penn had difficulty finishing its shots. Despite numerous close attempts, Yale goalie Peter Tourian proved too tough for many of Penn's attackers. Junior attacker Andy Crofton scored four goals, all in the second half. Cusson added three goals, assisting on another four. Senior midfielder Brian Napolitano and sophomore attacker Ben Conrad scored two goals apiece. Ward and sophomore midfielder Al Patton each had one goal. "The key factor was we came back strong in the fourth quarter," Penn's Ignall said. "We realized we were just as good a team as them, and took care of business after that. We proved we can run with teams of this caliber and we are legitimately a top-20 team. We just came up a little short."

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