W. Lax coaching saga ends with hiring

Former Princeton assistant coach Karin Brower became the second head coach in the history of Penn women's lacrosse. Four months of craziness and confusion surrounding the Penn women's lacrosse program came to an end this summer, as Anne Sage was officially removed as head coach and replaced by former Princeton assistant coach Karin Brower. Prior to last spring's season, the members of the women's lacrosse team presented a petition to the Athletic Department. The petition, which was signed by all 22 players, stated that they refused to play the season with Sage at the helm. They complained about Sage's frequent absences from practice and a lack of structure in most workouts. Although Sage remained the official head coach throughout the season, the Athletic Department asked her to take a leave of absence. The Quakers played under the direction of assistant coach Alanna Wren, who assumed control of the team just prior to the start of the season. The Quakers then stumbled to a 1-12 record, the worst in the program's history. Now, most of that ugliness from last spring is gone. On July 2, Sage -- the only coach in the program's 27-year history -- was relieved of her duties. A report released upon Sage's departure stated only that she is no longer the head coach and Athletic Department officials offered no further comment. Brower, who served as an assistant at Princeton from 1996 to 1998, became the program's second head coach on August 6. "I'm very honored to be at Penn. I love the Ivy League," Brower said. "I grew up in the Ivy League; my dad went to Princeton, so I went to football games all the time while growing up. My sister went to Princeton, so I've always enjoyed the camaraderie and the competition of the Ivy League. "I think Penn has a ton of potential, because it's such a great school and where it is, in the heart of women's lacrosse." While Brower was accustomed to being at the top of the Ivy League at Princeton, that is a position the Quakers have not occupied for quite a while. In fact, the Red and Blue have not finished over .500 in League play since 1986. Last season, Penn's only win came against Columbia, a program in its third year of varsity status which has never won an Ivy League game. More often than not, the Quakers found themselves on the wrong side of one-sided debacles, including a 17-3 loss to Princeton at home. "I know just from coaching against [Penn] that I'll be doing a lot of teaching in the beginning, redoing a lot of defensive and offensive concepts with them," Brower said. "But how quickly we can go in a year, I don't know." Brower is currently recruiting for the Class of 2004, but she is off to a late start as the recruiting period began on July 1. However, she will have more players to deal with this season, as Wren recruited 17 incoming freshmen. These players, along with the members of this year's sophomore class, could produce a much-improved squad in the next few years. "It'll be interesting to see what [recruits] I can bring in the first year," Brower said. "So I expect that it'll take a couple years. Maybe next year will be my first real recruiting class, because I'll be able to see them all spring and contact them." Brower, however, has not even seen this year's players yet. Although several players have stopped by and senior captain Brooke Jenkins has been on campus for field hockey practice, Brower will not meet with all of the players until next week. One of the players' biggest complaints with Sage last year was that she did nothing to prepare them during the fall season. This year, however, Brower has 12 scheduled practices -- the most allowed under Ivy League rules -- in addition to weight training and the Alumni Game on October 10, an exhibition which Brower will treat as a real game. Although Brower has had limited contact with the players, she has received help from Wren, who was named executive assistant to Athletic Director Steve Bilsky in July. "She's been great. She's been such a good resource for me," Brower said. "She helps me with a lot of things, and I'm glad that she's not too far away. I want her to feel that she can be a part [of the program] as much or as little as she wants." Prior to becoming an assistant at Princeton, Brower was the head coach at Drew, where she led the Division III program to conference championships in both of her years as coach. She also served as an assistant lacrosse coach at Villanova and an assistant field hockey coach at her alma mater, William and Mary. As a collegiate player, Brower was exceptional. The captain of both the Tribe lacrosse and field hockey teams as a senior, she was a first team All-American in lacrosse and a Regional All-American in field hockey. After graduation, Brower played on the United States women's lacrosse team from 1993 to 1996.