NOTEBOOK: Thanks to Sofield, M. Lax wins faceoffs at amazing rate

The Quakers have controlled 64 percent of their faceoffs this year, second only to Duke. If you were to tell Marc Van Arsdale in the fall that his team would have the second-highest faceoff winning percentage in the nation come April, he might have called you crazy. And the Penn men's lacrosse coach would have good reason to. Junior middie Bill Reidy, the Quakers' faceoff specialist for the previous two seasons, went down in November with a torn ACL. Surgery went well but doctors ordered Reidy to sit out all of the 1999 campaign. It looked as if the Quakers, without Reidy, were going to have a rough time improving on their 1998 faceoff percentage of .465. Now, 10 games into the season, the Quakers are winning a startling 64 percent of their faceoffs, trailing only the Duke Blue Devils. "It's definitely something that we have worked very hard on improving," Van Arsdale said. "If you would have asked me in November if we were going to be second in the country, I would have said 'probably not.'" In Reidy's absence, sophomore middie Bill Sofield has been nothing short of outstanding. He has emerged victorious from 105 of the 157 faceoffs he has taken. This .669 success rate places him third in Division I. "You have to give Billy all the credit in the world," Van Arsdale said. Sofield's success has not come in a vacuum, however. A lacrosse team only wins faceoffs when the entire midfield is alert and aggressive. Penn is no exception, as the wing play of sophomore Barret Nixon and senior Mark Kleinknecht has been vital to Penn's ability to win the ball. "Mainly it's just our great wing play that has helped us," Sofield said. Both Sofield and Van Arsdale credit Penn assistant Brian Brecht for getting the reigning faceoff king prepared for games. "I'm the type of player that needs somebody to get his head into the game," Sofield said. "And coach Brecht really helps me do that by forcing me to get psyched." Van Arsdale aptly described Sofield as a "highly emotional, intense competitor" and as "one of the most enthusiastic guys out there." If the sophomore standout continues to be primed for competition day-in and day-out, Penn's faceoff statistics will continue to impress. · The Quakers are 6-4 on the season but they are 0-1 on natural grass. With five wins and only a single loss in the friendly confines of Franklin Field, much of their success has come on carpet. Penn's next game will be on Saturday at Brown. The Bears play their home games on the grass of Stevenson Field, so Van Arsdale and his staff are making sure that their squad gets reacclimated to natural turf. As a result, this week the team will move from its usual haunt and hold practice on the natural greenery of Rhodes Field. "Every player on this team played on grass until they got here, so it's not a huge adjustment," Van Arsdale said. "It's a bigger deal for a turf team to play on grass than vice versa, so that's why we moved practice." Although the shift to grass ought not worry the Quakers too much, it does change the game somewhat. Attackers and defenders alike find it tough to change directions on grass; ground balls become more difficult to scoop; and all players tend to get "heavy-legged" earlier, according to Van Arsdale. · Pete Janney continues to score goals with reckless abandon. He currently leads the Ivy League with 29 tallies. His career total has ballooned to 85, tying him with Vern Riggs for seventh on the all-time Penn list. With four games remaining and with a host of four and five-goal games under his belt, Janney even has a chance to eclipse John Shoemaker's mark of 44 goals in a season. "I don't think that that's something to aim for. I only do what I think the team needs me to do to win," the junior attacker said. "It would be great to hold that record, though." Janney continues to leave opposing mouths agape with his blistering and accurate shots from the perimeter. Still, most agree that it has been Janney's unquenchable work ethic that has most propelled his success. "Pete has attacked the weight room," Van Arsdale said. · Senior goalie Matt Schroeder has been the anchor of a Penn defense that has held opposing teams to the nation's third-lowest goal total. Trailing only Duke and Princeton, the Quakers have allowed just 7.2 goals per game, with Schroeder himself yielding an even more scant 6.81. The senior, who always seems to be on an even keel, leads by example and word. The team's young keepers -- sophomore Bill Kane and freshman John Carroll -- have learned much from Schroeder. "Whenever I come into the game, Matt is able to help me by pointing out the little tendencies in how the other team is playing," Kane said. Schroeder feels that both of his understudies will make "quality goalies." Neither may get the starting nod next year, however. Van Arsdale, although unable to name names, indicates that it is very likely that next year's recruiting class may include a high-profile keeper.

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