M. Lax takes crack at elusive league victory

It was two coaches and 16 games ago that Penn won a league game. Let's just say it's been a while. When the Penn men's lacrosse team meets Harvard (2-1) on Saturday, they will try to break what seems to be a curse of not being able to win in the Ivy League. The last victory for Quakers (2-2) came April 2, 1994, when they came back to defeat Cornell, 10-9. That was 16 games ago. Last season, the haunted Quakers suffered incredible come-from-behind losses to Cornell and Dartmouth. With the coming of the Marc Van Arsdale era, Penn has stuffed the memories of the past into a closet, only thinking about this year and the future. This past summer, Terry Corcoran left Penn after leading the Quakers to two winless seasons in the Ivy League. Filling in the position as head coach is Van Arsdale, a six-year assistant coach at Virginia. When Van Arsdale came to Penn, he also brought his winning attitude. "The practices this year are much more different," Penn senior captain Ed Hanover said. "Guys go a lot harder in practice. They know that we can win and do well in the Ivy League. It was horrible looking back at the end of the season, counting all of the teams we should have beat. This year we have team closure." Van Arsdale, giving the streak little attention, has helped focus the team's motivation to win. He feels the Quakers will only succeed if they can play well for the whole 60 minutes of each game. With the competition in the Ivy League, Van Arsdale knows that most will come down to the wire. "It is going to be critical for us to find ways to win the one- or two-goal games," Van Arsdale said. "I am certain that we are going to be in a bunch of them in the league. How we can play in the last 10 minutes of a tight game is going to go a long way in determining how successful we are." The Quakers have also changed their expectations. According to Hanover, Penn's goal is to finish second in the Ivy League and be selected to play in the NCAA Tournament. Considering Penn has not had a winning season in the Ivy League since 1989, finishing second in one of the toughest divisions in the nation will be a tough task. For the Red and Blue, that mission starts this weekend in Cambridge, Mass. "I think we have put a certain amount of pressure on ourselves to play the way we are capable of, regardless who we are playing," Quakers senior middie Al Patton said. "We are pretty hungry when it comes to the Ivy League games. The streak doesn't add much pressure. The main pressure is us living up to our own expectations." After finishing second last year in the Ivy League and receiving a bid to the NCAA Tournament, the 17th-ranked Crimson are coming off a disappointing 10-9 loss earlier this week to Hartford in overtime. Harvard's offensive-oriented team is led by junior attackman Mike Ferucci, selected to last year's All-Ivy Second Team, who has already scored 13 goals in its three games. "They are a very slick and potentially explosive team offensively," Van Arsdale said. "They tend to have good speed in the middle of the field but are not overly physical." After a week of preparation, Van Arsdale feels the team is ready to put forth the effort it will take for them to win. He thinks it will be key for the Quakers to capitalize on face-offs and for the offense to exploit their advantage over the Harvard defense. According to Patton, Penn will come out on top if they do the things they know they have to do. As the Harvard match approaches, not only does it signify a new year for the lacrosse team in the Ivy League but, maybe, a new era.

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