M. Lax can't get No. 3

The Quakers broke their two-game winning streak, as the swuad fell to Brown on Saturday. Unimpressed with the Quakers' recent success, the Brown men's lacrosse team showed Penn what it takes to be successful in the Ivy League this past weekend. Penn's loss not only ended its three-game winning streak but also ended the 11th-ranked Bears' two-game conference losing streak. With an enthusiastic demeanor after their two previous Ivy League wins against Dartmouth and Cornell, the visiting Quakers (5-4, 2-2 Ivy League) took an early 3-1 lead that lasted until the middle of the second quarter. By using a zone formation, the Quakers defense was able to stop Brown's explosive attack in the early going. "We came out ready to play," Penn coach Marc Van Arsdale said. "We played very well for the first third of the game and put ourselves in a position to have a winable result against a good team." Unwilling to succumb on their home field, the Bears (4-5, 1-2) turned things around. Led by attackmen Tom Collard, Jed DeWick and Brett Frood, Brown rattled off five goals in five minutes. Regaining the momentum, the Bears took with them a 7-4 halftime lead into the locker room. "They caught us by surprise," Penn defender Brett Bodner said. "We were just trying to regroup. Going into halftime, people were down, but coach picked us back up... We changed our defense to a man to man. They took advantage of that. We were sliding well, but their shooters were shooting them in good spots." Frustrated by giving up the early lead, the Quakers were unable to regroup -- giving up three more goals to Brown after the half. The Red and Blue did not show signs of life until 7:03 left in the third quarter when senior Pete McGill scored a goal with the assist from freshman Bill Reidy. "We came unravelled a little bit," Van Arsdale said. "Everybody panicked. Lacrosse tends to be a game where teams will have that. We have gone through that this year but not like the run that Brown put on us." After ending the Bears' eight-goal streak, the Quakers found themselves in an hole, down 10-5. Giving up two more quick goals to Brown, Van Arsdale switched goalies in hope of regaining the momentum. After his first start of the season, Quakers sophomore Shane Lavery was replaced by sophomore Matt Schroeder. "Over the last couple of weeks Shane has been good in practice," Van Arsdale said. "The reason we went to Matt was things were starting to get a little out of hand, and we wanted to make a change." Regaining their composure, the Quakers were able cut the lead back down to five after two straight goals from senior Jon Cusson and freshman Peter Janney. The fourth quarter resulted in little progress from both teams, only scoring a goal apiece. "We tried to settle it down on offense and be patient," Bodner. "It was a scramble. It was pretty even in the second half. We were just trying to get good shots." For the Quakers, junior defender Brian Dobson felt that their dry spell between the second an third quarters cost them the game. Not being able to clear the ball and stop Brown's fast break, the Quakers gave the Bears many extra opportunities to score. "If we would have put four quarters together, we would have easily beaten Brown," Dobson said. "We just had some break downs on both ends. It happens." In scoring for the Bears, the trio of Frood, DeWick and Collard prevailed over Penn's defense, each yielding three goals apiece. In controlling the score, Brown also had a large advantage in face-offs won, ground balls and shots. Even after a successful stint, the feeling on the ride home from Providence was still too familiar for the Quakers. In hope of changing the program around, the Quakers know they will have to compete well in their three remaining games, including highly ranked Princeton and Syracuse.

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