Villanova upsets M. Lax, 7-5

Last night's 7-5 loss at Villanova is different from the defeats that have befallen the Penn men's lacrosse team in five of its last six contests. It's not just that this loss was the first to a non-Ivy League opponent or that it came against a Philadelphia rival. It's different because it shouldn't have happened. "We just played really badly," Penn junior attacker Pete Janney said. "We didn't have what it takes to win." The Quakers lacked the drive and poise necessary to get their season back on track. While the Wildcats (6-6) were supposed to be a more manageable opponent than Penn's high-powered Ivy foes, the Red and Blue did not play up to the task. "It was? a lack of emotional investment in going out there and playing," Penn coach Marc Van Arsdale said. As has been the case throughout much of this topsy-turvy season, the Quakers (6-6, 2-4 Ivy League) got off to a lethargic start. Villanova midfielder Christopher Lawson got the scoring underway early with a crisp shot past Penn senior keeper Matt Schroeder. Fellow midfielder Eric Dauer got 'Nova's second goal of the quarter. The way the play transpired gave early witness to the fact that fate would not be on the Quakers' side. "It was sort of a fluke goal," Schroeder said. "It bounced off? one of our sticks and just got back behind the goal. It wasn't a great goal but it wasn't a deciding factor in the game." Early offense has not been very easy to come by for Penn this season. The Quakers have a tendency to let the game heat up before they start to score goals and this pattern exhibited itself clearly last night. "We've just been struggling a lot offensively," Janney said. "That was a problem all throughout the game." There was a time earlier in the year that the Quakers showed signs of remarkable explosiveness. With 14 goals against a top-10 North Carolina team and 17 against a quality Lafayette club, Penn looked like it could score at will. But the Penn attack was meager yesterday due to both poor execution and the job done by the 'Nova defense. "We knew that they would have some guys who could move and would give us problems," Schroeder said. "That's no excuse, though." The Cats did an admirable job of keying in on the Penn shortsticks, managing to outshoot the Quakers 36-27. They also matched up well. In particular, sophomore defender Brian O'Hagan excelled at shutting down Penn's Todd Minerley. Minerley, the Penn sophomore attacker who is second in the Ivies in overall scoring with 39 points, managed to score once last night. Still, O'Hagan's tenacious defense kept Minerley from manufacturing offense. The Quakers were masterful on defense throughout the middle two periods, holding the Wildcats to a scant two tallies in 30 minutes. "Schroeder played well the whole night and we basically shut them down for a long while," Van Arsdale said. The fourth quarter was the nail in the Penn coffin. 'Nova junior midfielder John McTigue, who was the story of the game for the Cats by dishing out a career-high six assists, hit attacker Tom Hourican with 6:02 to make the score 7-4. This gave them the cushion they needed to put away the Quakers. "You got to have the thought that you're going to win at all times," Janney said. "We all had our heads down a little bit. In the end, we gave it to them by not capitalizing." No rest lies ahead for the battle-weary Quakers. They head to Syracuse to take on the No. 4 Orangemen on Saturday, and preparation needs to begin with tomorrow's practice. "Nobody better be thinking of giving up," Schroeder said.

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