M. Lax drops another close one

Cornell's quick start was too much for the Penn men's lacrosse team. Recently, the Penn men's lacrosse team has been relying on late surges to pull out games. Once again, it didn't work Saturday against Cornell, as the Big Red defeated the Quakers 14-10 at Franklin Field despite five Penn fourth-quarter goals. Penn (2-5, 0-2 Ivy League) found itself in a situation similar to last week's loss to Harvard in which five late-game Penn goals could not prevent a 16-13 Crimson win. "It's becoming a broken record," Penn coach Marc Van Arsdale said. "We wait until it's too late until we put the pressure on." Entering this game, the Big Red (3-3, 2-0) knew they would have to be in top shape to beat Penn. Cornell's other two wins came against Colgate and Yale -- two relatively weak teams, and the Big Red were not considered as strong a team as Penn. "We knew if we came down here and played well, we would have a chance to win," first-year Cornell coach Dave Pietramala said. "Our offense really stepped up, and we are very fortunate to win." Although he acknowledged Cornell's tough defense, Van Arsdale also felt his players did not play as well as they should have. "[Cornell] is a team that is not very different from us," Van Arsdale said. "With the home field and the great weather, it was a good chance to pick up a win. We just didn't play well enough." The Big Red offense didn't perform up to capabilities at first, as Penn held a 2-1 lead after the first quarter. Cornell started to move away from the Quakers in the second quarter. While the Big Red rolled off four goals in the period, a John Ward goal with 3:07 left in the quarter was the Quakers' only score. Penn's offensive troubles continued in the third quarter. The Quakers only penetrated the Cornell defense for two goals in the period. Cornell, on the other hand, got the ball past Penn goalie Matt Schroeder five times. One match-up, which held special importance for the involved players, was between Penn freshman attackman Todd Minerley and his brother, Cornell senior defenseman Glenn Minerley. "I've competed against my brother for years," Penn's Minerley said. "This was the first and last time I would compete against him in college, so it was a special moment for me." Despite admitting that competing against his brother gave him an extra boost to win, Minerley, who led the Quakers with 13 goals coming into the game, could not use that boost to lift his play, as the younger Minerley finished without a goal. "Cornell's defense shut off our attack pretty well," Minerley said. "They didn't allow us to do what we usually can do." The Cornell defense was strong for most of the afternoon, allowing only five Penn goals through three periods. The floodgates opened in the fourth period, however, as Penn doubled its point total from the previous 45 minutes in the final 15. "Our defense was effective until the fourth quarter," Pietramala said. "The end was very disappointing. We were playing not to lose instead of to win, and Penn took advantage of that." Penn certainly did take advantage of Cornell's weakened defensive performance. Senior captain Joe Mauro scored twice in the period, which earned him a hat trick for the game. Midfielder Jeff Zuckerman also added two goals, and middie Billy Reidy chipped in another. Unfortunately for the Quakers, their efforts were not enough to pull out a victory. Cornell also rattled off four goals in the final period to walk away with the win. With their season halfway finished and with no wins in Ivy League competition, the Quakers find themselves in an undesirable position. The rest of the Ivy schedule still lies ahead, and it features several teams that the Quakers will need to step up play to defeat. Penn's non-league schedule also includes a meeting with Syracuse, currently the top-ranked team in the nation. "We haven't proven anything to anyone, and the rest of the schedule is just as tough," Minerley said. Preparing for the rest of the year, Penn must improve several aspects of its game. As Saturday's loss to Cornell proved, the Quakers can no longer rely on late-game charges. If they are to win, they need to start their charge at the opening faceoff.

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