COLUMN: New Ivy lacrosse parity is helpful

Jordan Smith, Commentary The usual reasons have been trotted out to explain Penn's revival. A young team has matured and learned to win close games. New recruits, like midfielder Pete Janney, are contributing immediately. And, of course, first-year coach Marc Van Arsdale has brought an attacking style and tradition of winning from Virginia. These are all true enough, but one essential element has been overlooked -- the parity that characterizes all the non-orange-and-black wearing teams in the Ancient Eight (or Seven, since Columbia doesn't play). A year ago, during Penn's infamous 17-game Ivy losing streak, every conference game the Quakers played was against a nationally recognized foe, except for Cornell which was an "other receiving votes." This year, that number has been cut to only three. Harvard and Brown, No. 6 and No. 7 in 1996, join Princeton in the USILA rankings, but even these two have slipped to 16th and 12th, respectively. Has this helped Penn? "I think certainly," Princeton coach Bill Tierney said. "I think what Penn's done is exactly what we've expected them to do when they hired Marc -- start making a move." Van Arsdale admits a slightly lower level of play may be prevailing in the Ivies as a whole, and "maybe we've picked up a win here or there" because of it. But why the drop-off in play this year? Perhaps because the strong class of 1996 moved on, but maybe there are bigger forces at work. In the last decade, the number of schools giving scholarships has risen. Some of these schools, such as Duke and Georgetown, compete directly with the Ivy League. Both are now firmly embedded in the top 10. This extra competition for players has caused what Tierney calls "a watering down effect." Scholarships are outside the Ivies' control, but what has to worry most league coaches is the continuing dominance of Princeton. The defending national champion, on its way to a fifth league title in six years, is the showpiece program of Ivy League athletics and a recruiting juggernaut. Just ask Van Arsdale. "Princeton has clearly become the first-choice school in the league for guys that can do that," he said. "We clearly felt that this year, there were guys we felt would come in and make a significant difference in our team that ended up at Princeton, and they're probably going to be sitting for a couple of years." Tierney sees the scholarships as a bigger factor, but admits bringing the stars to Old Nassau isn't too tough when you've got a 21-game winning streak. "We've always gotten our eight guys? Maybe some of the top kids who would have spread out have come our way," said Tierney, who believes his team is simply on the top side of a cycle. "We feel fortunate to be in that position. It wasn't that long ago that it was Penn, Brown and Cornell." He may be missing the point here, though. It was Penn, Brown and Cornell in the late '80s; now, with apologies to Brown, it's Princeton, Princeton and Princeton. Tierney claims there isn't a lot of difference between the top 20 teams in the country, although Princeton's scores against No. 12 Penn State (18-6) and No. 16 Harvard (19-6) seem to contradict his belief. The prognosis for Ivy lacrosse is uncertain. With amazing recent success -- and the power of the Princeton name and the decline of the opposition -- except Penn -- in 1997, there is no reason to expect anyone to challenge them soon. Are the Quakers the great Ivy hope? Tierney thinks so. "I think Marc would be the first to admit it, but (departed Penn coach) Terry Corcoran left the cupboard a lot more full than when he got there," Tierney said. "That, along with Marc's abilities as a coach and as a recruiter is going to bring Penn right back to the top of the league. I don't think there's any doubt about that." We'll see.