M. Lax starts rivalry with St. Joe's with win

In the first-ever meeting between the Quakers and the Hawks, Penn easily won, 20-11, despite being down 4-2 early in the first quarter. Penn led 15-5 at the half. The Penn men's lacrosse team started the season on a positive note Saturday, defeating the crosstown rivals St. Joseph's, 20-11. The first-ever meeting between the two teams started as a heated battle, but Penn (1-0) showed the younger Hawks (0-1) how Ivy League lacrosse is played. The victory also proved to be a milestone, as Penn coach Marc Van Arsdale recorded his first win as a head coach. The Quakers started the afternoon on the wrong foot, finding themselves down 4-2 to the Hawks only 5:33 into the contest. After making the mental adjustments, Penn regained composure and spent the rest of the first half putting the game out of reach. Starting with two goals by freshman Peter Janney and another goal by senior Jon Cusson, the Quakers took a lead they never gave up. "We weren't ready for the burst of enthusiasm and energy that St. Joe's had," Van Arsdale said. "We were a little asleep defensively. St. Joe's scoring four quick ones might have been a wake-up call to us." With an onslaught of goals by Janney, Cusson, junior John Ward, junior Mike Burka, senior Al Patton and senior Peter McGill, the Quakers made an astounding 12-0 run, giving Penn a 14-4 advantage. While Penn's offense scored on almost every opportunity it had, the defense stood strong keeping the momentum for almost fifteen minutes. St. Joe's did not again show signs of life until freshman Corey Comen scored with 52 seconds left in the half, sending the two teams into the locker rooms with the Quakers leading 14-5. "It was momentum," St. Joseph's coach Pat Dennin. "At one time we had five to six guys out there that were freshmen. We had mental breakdowns. Being the first game of the season, we had a lot to work on. Penn is the type of team that is going to show you your weaknesses." A big advantage the Quakers had in the run was senior leadership in the midfield from Patton and McGill, who not only assisted, but scored. Van Arsdale felt the hustle in getting to the ground balls, Penn receiving 10 to St. Joseph's four in the second quarter, kept the ball in the Quakers' offensive half. With the solid play of the attackmen, the Quakers kept the speed of the game in their hands. "We bounced back right away," said Cusson, who led the Red and Blue with six goals and four assists. "We got settled into our offense. We realized we could take these guys. We started moving the ball through our attack and having our middies cut. Once we got going, we just took off." Trying to come back in the second half, the Hawks' effort proved to no avail. Penn's defense shut down St. Joe's attacking core of Chris McIsaac, Drew Foley and Bill Oaks, who helped give St. Joe's the early lead. The back-and-forth play of the anti-climactic second half added six points to each team's halftime score. "We were all saying in the locker room that it was not a pretty win," Penn sophomore Bart Hacking said. "It is still a win, doesn't matter how you do it. It is good to get a win under our belt and go on from there. Coach knows what we did wrong and is not going to harp on it." The game was an example of two teams working through early-season kinks. Dennin remarked on the stature Van Arsdale has brought with him to the Penn program. For the Hawks, the competition only gets easier. Penn, wishing it could say the same thing, knows the season has yet to begin.

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