M. Lax fits in some fall action

Beneath an unrelenting sun that made it feel like mid-May at Franklin Field, the Penn men's lacrosse team got in a full day of fall scrimmaging last Sunday. Under Ivy League rules, the Quakers are allowed one full day of inter-squad competition before the real season starts in late February. Penn squared off against Rutgers and Towson in a three-game mini-tournament that lasted most of the day. At the end of four early-morning quarters of play against the Scarlet Knights, the Quakers trailed, 9-8. Penn also came out on the short end of its second, five-quarter scrimmage, losing 18-12 to the Tigers. The two close losses have Penn coach Marc Van Arsdale thinking that his charges look good in some facets, but are in need of definite improvement in all. "We all walked off the field knowing that there are a bunch of things that we really need to improve on," Van Arsdale said. "I think there are enough that we all have some clear goals." Penn senior midfielder Kevin Cadin led the Red and Blue in scoring, notching five total goals, three against Rutgers and a pair against Towson. According to Van Arsdale, the most impressive part of the Quakers' performance was the play of their defense. They seemed to click best early on in the Rutgers game, especially when Penn excelled in the second and third quarters. The Quakers -- who are coming off a disappointing 5-8 season last spring that also saw them go 1-5 in the Ivy League -- ended their fall practice schedule with Sunday's scrimmages. From now until the end of the semester, independent conditioning is all the preparation that league rules permit. This is a team that knows a thing or two about what it takes to prepare for major college lacrosse. After losing just four players to graduation, Penn has eight seniors and is long on upperclass leadership.

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