Penn defeats No. 1 Division II team

Andy Crofton setsAndy Crofton setsPenn goals record inAndy Crofton setsPenn goals record inwin over Adelphi The Penn men's lacrosse team has found itself on the wrong end of a lot of scorelines this season. Time and time again they have fallen just short against nationally-ranked foes. Last night, one Quaker, Andy Crofton stood on the edge of personal success, two goals shy of the school record for goals. His job was to do what the team as a whole has not -- get over the final hurdle and finish what they started. Crofton succeeded in his personal achievement -- notching four goals and two assists, while leading Penn (4-9) to a 16-13 victory over Adelphi (6-3) at Mitchell Park in Hempstead, N.Y. The senior attackman now has 103 goals in his career (19 this season), besting the old mark of 101, which was held by John Shoemaker. In addition, the win broke a four-week, five-game losing streak. The Jaguars, who won the national Division II title last season, are currently the No. 1 team at that level. They have a rich tradition in lacrosse, having competed at the Division I level in days past. The Garden City, Long Island, school features an impressive line-up, including several highly-acclaimed Australians, international stars who have come to the university to play the sport. One of the Quakers concerns was Aussie face-off specialist Matt Schomburg, who has the ability to swing the possession advantage to his squad. But junior Al Patton held his own and gave Penn plenty of time to work their offense. That offense ran through Crofton and sophomore middie Joe Mauro, who found the net three times. As he has been all year, Lou Galli proved a steadying force in midfield. After jumping out to a quick lead, Penn cruised into halftime with a 9-5 lead. "It was one goal at a time -- we were just running the offense," Penn coach Terry Corcoran said. They maintained the lead into the fourth quarter, before Adelphi brought the game, played at Nassau County Community College on a lighted field in order to accommodate the 7 p.m. start, to within one. But this time, the Quakers did not crumble in the face of a fast-paced comeback. Instead, the Quakers struck back with two goals in quick succession to send the game on its way to a three-point final margin. The Quakers' defense, while not spectacular, did the job last night. After a period of playing a mixture of zone and man-to-man, Penn abandoned the zone and reverted to its base defense. "We didn't want to run the zone against them, since they have a lot of guys who can shoot from outside," Corcoran said. But the game was won by Penn's solid offensive effort. No one deserves more credit for that than Crofton, who has endured four years of tumult with the lacrosse program, and watched sophomore John Ward become the offensive star of the team. But he surely found some consolation in breaking the eight-year-old record. The tri-captain has said repeatedly that any individual accomplishment would come second to team goals. Appropriately, as the Long Island-born attacker stepped off of the field last night, it was as a winner.