Van Arsdale to show off new team to mentor

A game with national runner-up Virginia highlights three spring break contests for Penn. While the rest of the student body flees the campus for a week of relaxation, the men's lacrosse team will face the intensity of two top-10 teams. Instead of heading to some tropical location, the Quakers look to gain experience and maybe even a couple of wins as they battle No. 10 Navy, second-ranked Virginia and Bucknell. First-year coach Marc Van Arsdale has brought a new level of confidence to a Penn team that has fallen from respectability in the last two years. With Van Arsdale at the helm, Penn (1-0) got off to a positive start last week with an offensive explosion and a win against St. Joseph's. Realistically, however, the Quakers will have to come up with at least one win in the next 10 days to give the program any credibility before it heads into the Ivy season. Even with Virginia and a matchup against the team he used to help coach, lying just over the horizon, Van Arsdale is trying to keep himself and his team focused on Navy. "The goal right now quite honestly is to get through Navy," Van Arsdale said. "It sets up well for us. I think this team is ready to face a big challenge and find out how good we really are against one of the better teams in the country. We're a young team and really haven't found our way yet." No matter how the Quakers fare at home, they will have to quickly regroup and head to Charlottesville, Va., for a meeting with the second-ranked Cavaliers on Wednesday. The match will be a homecoming for Van Arsdale as he returns to the site of his home matches for the past six years. The chance to take on Virginia head coach Dom Starsia is something Van Arsdale is trying to separate from his team's game preparation. "The personal side you try to separate a little bit," said Van Arsdale. "There's no question that we are going down there to find out how good we are. I don't want to try and focus too much on the personal side of it, I think that could be a little bit of a distraction." In the spirit of spring break, the Quakers goalies will continue their time-share agreement on the field. The nicely crafted orange pipes and net currently have two tenants, sophomores Shane Lavery and Matt Schroeder. While 10 days from now it is possible that one will have earned a more permanent home on the bench, for now the two will continue to share equal time without any animosity between them. "It doesn't warrant a situation right yet where one guy is a 100 percent player and one guy is a zero percent player," Van Arsdale said. "If coach decides to pick a starter now or if he keeps splitting time, as long as we keep winning that's all that is important," Penn goalie Matt Schroeder said. "As long as [Van Arsdale] tells you in the middle of the week, you can get yourself prepared to play the first half or the second half." The three games between now and when classes resume will be key for the maturing of the freshmen and sophomores who comprise the majority of the roster. Fortunately for them, upperclassmen are putting effort into getting the younger players conditioned to the team's tradition. "We can show them on the field how much harder you have to work that you did in high school, and how every day is important," said Penn senior Jon Cusson, who led the Quakers with six goals. In a season that is one of transition for Penn lacrosse team, spring break will itself be a time of transition for the young team. Ten days from now the Red and Blue will be tired, not tan, but they hope that it is a sacrifice worth making as they try to turn around a program that was once one of Penn's finest.

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