COLUMN: Season slipping away for M. Lax

Josh Callahan, Commentary Pete Janney and Todd Minerley lead the Ivy League in scoring. Yet the men's lacrosse team sits at 1-3 in the Ivy League, and what was the potential for a breakthrough season seems to be lost. It is a befuddling situation for a team that, on paper at the beginning of the season, seemed poised to improve on last year's performance, earn its first winning mark this decade and possibly grab an at-large NCAA tournament berth. With the exception of baseball, no spring team has the potential to create as much excitement on campus as the lacrosse team. Men's lacrosse is already the top crowd draw during the spring thanks to an accessible home field (Franklin Field) and prime starting times. A few more wins would have made Saturday night's Fling game against nationally ranked No. 3 Syracuse a must-see event. It should still be a great game, but maybe only for one half. The Quakers are 3-0 when ahead after 30 minutes and 0-6 when trailing at the break. A year ago at this time the men's lacrosse team was 2-2 in the league. On paper that is not much different from 1-3, but the tone of this season remains far removed from last year's surprise, when each win was greeted with excitement. Six times in the 1980s the lacrosse team found itself in the NCAA tournament, including a trip to the Final Four in 1988. Penn went two years without an Ivy victory in 1995 and 1996. A second consecutive empty Ivy campaign left coach Terry Corcoran without a job. Marc Van Arsdale, a former assistant at perennial national power Virginia, was brought in to recapture the Penn success of the '80s. Before the 1996 season, Corcoran said in his media guide, "With such a young team we need to be overachievers." The team didn't do it in 1996, but under Van Arsdale they accomplished exactly that in 1997 by going 3-3 in the Ivy League and 6-6 overall. The excitement created by the arrival of Van Arsdale, the fantastic offensive play of Ivy League Rookie of the Year Pete Janney and ever-improving net play courtesy of Schroeder created optimism that in 1998 Penn would post its first winning season since 1989. With defending national champion Princeton still dominating the league and the country, an Ivy title was an unrealistic expectation for this season. The team's stated goal of earning an at-large berth to the tournament, however, seemed within reach. The 1998 squad lost the services of a number of contributors from the year before, most notably Honorable Mention All-Ivy attackman Jon Cusson, who smoothly ran the Quakers' offense with deft passing. Nevertheless, the Quakers returned First Team All-Ivy attackman John Ward, second teamer Ziggy Majumdar on defense and Janney. The stat sheet in 1998 is also deceivingly kind to the Quakers. After four Ivy League games, Penn has fewer penalty minutes, a better shooting percentage and only three fewer goals than its opponents. Schroeder's save percentage of .600 is well ahead of his counterparts' combined .520. But there are two ugly statistics, both of which may point to the root of the Quakers' struggles. Penn has won just .422 of total faceoffs and has 17 failed clears, whereas the other side only has two. Saturday's game against Brown was a good example of their face off woes. With Penn needing to gain possession after Brown moved ahead 9-6 in the fourth quarter, the Bears won the face off and scored to make it 10-6. The Bears picked up the face off again following their 10th tally to effectively keep the Quakers out of the game. There are plenty of hopeful signs that men's lacrosse will be a force in the league soon. Schroeder's save percentage in the league is second to Rich Yost's of Cornell. But for now, Matt Schroeder is getting pummeled in the net as his 12.50 goals against average showed. Van Arsdale will put Penn lacrosse back on the map. But that is not much consolation for this year's team and fans ready to embrace a winning spring team.