The men's lacrosse team ended a two-year Ivy losing streak last season; Now they expect to win. From pretender to contender in one year, the Penn men's lacrosse team has ascended from the lowly depths of the Ivy League to national prominence. Last year, the Quakers made a drastic jump to 6-6 overall and 3-3 in the Ivy League -- the first time the team had finished .500 and above in seven years. All of this came under first-year coach Marc Van Arsdale. While the team made strides last season, there's still room left to improve. "The expectation level for ourselves has risen," Van Arsdale said. "We are not going to tolerate errors that were made last year." With close defeats to Navy and Harvard, the Quakers last season lost out on many opportunities. Although last year's success seemed unexpected, Penn wants to prove it was just the beginning. "We can't be satisfied with last season," Penn co-captain John Ward said. "A little more toughness in the fourth quarter and we could have been 8-4. Moving into this year, .500 is not going to be anywhere close to where we need to be, where we want to be or where we can be." Comparing this season to last, Penn finds itself further ahead in development and in better shape. Van Arsdale also feels the learning process from last season will benefit this year's team. "People have a much clearer idea of what we are trying to do, and when we make mistakes, why we made them," Van Arsdale said. "Last year sometimes it took a little while to get through things, being the first time through." The Quakers will have plenty of opportunity in showing themselves to the rest of the nation, squaring off against the top three preseason teams. Princeton, Virginia and Syracuse revisit the prestigious list of teams on Penn's 1998 schedule. "We do get a chance to test ourselves against the best, which is what we want to do," Van Arsdale said. "As we go out and try to attract the kinds of players that are going to take us to become an Ivy League Championship team, you need the best teams on the schedule." In shifting the balance of the Ivy League, the Quakers find themselves in the middle, with Cornell and Yale toward the bottom and Brown, Harvard and Princeton at the top. With room to move up, Penn will have the luxury of facing Ivy League opponents Brown and Harvard at home. "Princeton is a clear runaway favorite," Van Arsdale said. "On paper most people look at it, Princeton, Brown, Harvard and Penn. We would like to do something about that." The Quakers' ultimate goal is the NCAA tournament in May. Taking the top 16 in the country, tournament champion Princeton and Brown were the only two to get tourney bids from the Ivy League last season. But this spring, the Penn team will have a different look than last year. A year ago, Penn attackmen Jon Cusson ('97), sophomore Pete Janney and Ward were looked upon to be the main scorers. This year, the offensive duties will also be shared by the middies, who this season are tri-captain Joe Mauro, junior Jeff Zuckerman, sophomore Mike Kehoe (who was out of school last year) and sophomore Billy Reidy. "Me and Pete are going to have to have some eyes this year," Ward said. "We have two lines of middies this year that can put the ball in the back of the net." While the loss of Ed Hanover, Al Patton and Pete McGill to graduation will affect the flow of the middies, Mauro and Zuckerman's experience will help. In the opening game of the regular season against St. Joseph's, the two combined for seven goals and five assists. At the attack position, Penn will feel the burden placed on it with the departure of Cusson, who ended his career ranked fourth in all-time assists (77), tenth in all-time goals (78) and fifth in all-time scoring (155). The Quakers starting three up front will consist of Ward, Janney and freshman Todd Minerley. Ward, one of this year's tri-captains, broke Penn's all-time leading scorer Andy Crofton ('96) with 110 career goals. With 36 goals and 14 assists last season, Ward was selected honorable mention All-American and first team All-Ivy. Last year's Ivy League Rookie of the Year Pete Janney contributed 27 goals and 9 assists, while the new addition to the starting attack, Minerley, began the season strong with three goals and an assist in the game against St. Joe's. "Todd stepped right in," Ward said. "He is going to be the quarterback of our offense. I miss 'Cuss', and it was great to play with him. But I have all of the confidence in the world in Todd." The defense will be led by tri-captain Joe Siedlecki, Ziggy Majumdar, Bill Fowler and Brett Bodner playing the long stick midfield role. After taking a year to understand Van Arsdale's style of defense, Penn will be well-prepared for their opponents. "We have a year under are belts together," Siedlecki said. "We can trust each other out on the field, knowing if you do get beat, someone will be there to help you." One of the main differences between this season and last year will be the situation in the net. A year ago, current juniors Shane Lavery and Matt Schroeder exchanged minutes in goal. In the middle of the season, Van Arsdale opted for Schroeder, moving Lavery to midfield, where he was able to make better use of his athletic ability. Schroeder's presence in the net at the end of last season and through preseason has grown. Van Arsdale feels he will be the difference that will help the Quakers in close games. "Matt was terrific Saturday," Van Arsdale said. "He was sharp and on top of things. He gave us a lot of leadership. If he is really on we could steal a game a lot of people might not expect us to win." Although the 17-11 victory against St. Joe's Saturday did not make anyone's head turn, the Quakers were able to start the regular season strong after exhibition losses to Towson and Hobart. Over the break, the Quakers head south for games against Navy (1-1) and Virginia (1-1), before coming back the state of Pennsylvania to play Bucknell. Last year, the Quakers finished the three-game tour, 1-2, losing to Navy (9-8) and Virginia (17-6) and defeating Bucknell (13-3). Against Navy, Penn hopes to inflict some revenge, after the Midshipmen came back from two goals down in the last period to win. For Van Arsdale, it will be his second game coaching against Virginia, where he assisted for six years. With a lot of experience returning and a few freshmen impact players, Penn should not miss a beat from last season. Unlike the past decade, the Quakers have a legit chance to extend their season past the standard two months.
The Daily Pennsylvanian is an independent, student-run newspaper. Please consider making a donation to support the coverage that shapes the University. Your generosity ensures a future of strong journalism at Penn.
DonatePlease note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.