COLUMN: Brower to bring new life to W. Lax

The Quakers were simply miserable last season. From the preseason difficulties with the coaching situation to finishing with the worst record in team history, there were not a lot of happy moments for Penn last season. In the eyes of most observers, Anne Sage destroyed this team -- that is a point which is difficult to argue. When the players petitioned the Athletic Department for Sage's removal as head coach, they took the first step in the much-needed rebuilding process, a process which continued with Sage's dismissal and Brower's hiring this summer. In many ways, Brower is building from the ground up. Penn's is a program in disarray, a program that will not rebound in one year. It's easy to say that Brower's task will be to right all of the wrongs committed by Sage. After all, every member of the team knew that Sage had been driving the program into the ground for several years. Her coaching style was outdated, she frequently missed practices and her workouts did little to help her team improve. Now the Anne Sage Era is over. Karin Bower is here to be the savior. But it's not that simple. The name Anne Sage has come to represent failure for everyone associated with Penn women's lacrosse. Players and fans alike have vivid recollections of Ivy League teams coming into Franklin Field and demolishing the Red and Blue last season. But to those in the lacrosse world, the name Anne Sage means much more. Yes, her embarrassing departure will always be a final, ugly stain on her resume, but what Anne Sage did for lacrosse cannot be forgotten. She is a pioneer in the sport, the first and, until this summer, the only head coach Penn has known. She is still the only coach ever to take both a lacrosse and a field hockey team to the NCAA Final Four. Unfortunately for Penn, Sage's days atop the lacrosse world took place a generation ago, and all people remember these days is disappointment. But with a new coach, all that Sage represented -- both positive and negative -- is behind us. Brower currently has a difficult job. Everywhere she has gone, she has found success. After an All-American playing career at William and Mary, she led Drew to conference championships in her only two years as head coach. And while an assistant coach at Princeton from 1996 to 1998, she worked with a team that was among the best in the nation. She will most definitely have a different perspective when she begins working with the Penn players. Brower moved into her office in the Dunning Center less than a month ago and is still more familiar with the Princeton team that rolled off 17 goals at Franklin Field last season than the Penn team that struggled to get three balls into the cage that same night. "Karin will have to get used to dealing with a different type of program," said Alanna Wren, who served as interim head coach last season and is now an executive assistant to Athletic Director Steve Bilsky. Wren knows that coaching at Penn will be a much different experience than what Brower is used to. Brower, however, is well aware of the challenge that awaits her, acknowledging that she will probably be doing more teaching in the first few weeks with her Penn players. Teaching and building. The Quakers are a work in a progress -- a work that has really only just begun. They will be better this spring than they were last season, but they will still be a struggling squad. No one expects or should expect a complete reversal from last year, as Wren believes it will take three years for Brower's program to see any significant improvement. Even Brower knows that she must wait another year -- until her first recruiting class arrives -- before seeing how quickly Penn can improve. So, yes, this is a new beginning for Penn women's lacrosse. The new coach will bring a new perspective, a new outlook and a new style to the program. But it is also important that Brower maintains Penn's rich tradition of lacrosse. Both Wren and Brower are quick to recognize Penn's success in the past and the hope that they can bring that back to Franklin Field. Every once and a while, old and distinguished institutions need revamping. That is what is happening here. And for Karin Brower, it is crucial that she establishes a new look for her team while still maintaining the tradition at the program's core.