M. Lax defense drops the ball again in fourth vs. Orange

The Penn men's lacrosse team could not deny the Syracuse offense led by the Powell brothers. Another game against a top-notch opponent Saturday night at Franklin Field brought one more chance for the Penn men's lacrosse team to reach the lofty expectations it set for itself at the start of the season. Instead, Syracuse (8-2, ranked No. 7 USILA) jumped out to a quick two-goal lead in the first five minutes and stayed in front from start to finish, defeating Penn 13-9. Despite the Penn (4-7) second-half comeback that closed the deficit to two goals, the tone was set in the early minutes. Syracuse won the first faceoff and immediately went to work. Orangemen midfielder Matt Cutia ran into the slot and fired the first goal just 1:37 into the game. Syracuse proceeded to dictate the early flow, possessing the ball on more occasions than Penn and wearing down the Quakers' defense. The same Orangemen squad that was upset by No. 15 Rutgers last week vowed to prove that it belonged in the top 10. "We came off a hard loss, wanted to show everybody that we deserve where we're ranked and just try to improve in getting ready for the Final Four," Orangemen sophomore attackman Ryan Powell said. The emotion and intensity belonged to the Orange for most of the first period. The Quakers had sporadic good moments, including a bullet from the perimeter by tri-captain John Ward and a score around the net by sophomore attackman Peter Janney. From there, Syracuse used the end of the first and all of the second period to put together a 6-2 run. The rally featured two goals each for Orange sophomore attackman Ryan Powell and his brother, senior attackman Casey Powell. For the final tally of the half, Casey took the most direct route, going through a hit put by two Penn defenders and scoring to put the Orangemen up 9-4. Part of his motivation came from playing against Penn defender and Carthage, N.Y., neighbor Joe Siedlecki. "It was an interesting matchup with Casey playing against a kid he grew up with," Syracuse coach Roy Simmons said. "He took that as a personal challenge, and he was disrupted to the point where Ryan got his four goals." Casey added to the Powell field day with two assists to lead Syracuse. It took a while for the Quakers to find their rhythm. After the intermission, however, Penn came out with more patience on offense and found the net by sticking to its intended game plan. "We spread the defense out, made hard crisp dodges and got the ball into and out of sticks quickly against double-team coverage," Janney said. "That led to easy goals from wide open shots on the backside." The patience on offense led to three unanswered Quakers' goals during a 2:05 span in the third quarter, starting when tri-captain Joe Mauro scored on the play immediately following his disallowed goal. The nullified score came after the official on the far side of the field notified the lead official of a delayed penalty on Syracuse for having too many men in the defensive end of the field. The call caused the play to revert back to Penn's possession from the time of the infraction -- before the Quakers' goal. After Mauro's goal, Penn freshman attackman Todd Minerly scored and Janney blew past two Orange defenders before ripping a shot to narrow the Syracuse lead to 9-7. The long-awaited offensive display by Penn rejuvenated the home crowd, sensing the renewed possibility of a comeback despite the lackluster beginning. One minute later, however, Syracuse began a run of its own when Ryan Powell tallied yet another goal to start a 4-1 string. Ward, Janney, Mauro and Minerly led the Quakers with two goals apiece. Penn midfielder Jeff Zuckerman added one goal and two assists. Lost in the result was another outstanding performance by Penn goaltender Matt Schroeder, who kept the Quakers in the game despite the early Syracuse charges at the net. Schroeder could not do much about most of the Orangemen goals that came from many quick passes around the offensive zone or from hard runs to the net. The Penn netminder did catch a few breathers in the second half when the bulk of Syracuse's eight penalties occurred. The result: Penn goals that kept the Quakers in the contest. "We gave them several man-up opportunities," Simmons said. "They scored on two, and that's a situation that we have to rectify." Nevertheless, Syracuse came out on top thanks to early goals that started from possessions off draws. The Quakers lost 18-of-24 faceoffs, a problem that resulted from loose balls more than the draws themselves. "We had some failed clears, and some balls that were in the middle of the field that we just didn't win," Janney said. "That's what we really need to win against good teams."