M. Lax ekes out win against No. 18 Harvard

In a game more volatile than the Nasdaq stock market, the Penn lacrosse team left No. 18 Harvard in the red by a score of 10-9. The first Ivy league win (1-1) and third win overall for the Quakers (3-2) came in dramatic fashion. With 9:20 elapsed in the final quarter, junior Sonny Sarker netted the game winner. Peter Scott, who tallied a goal in the first period, was cutting to the cage when the ball hit off the post. Sarker was there to retrieve the ball and fired it into the back of the net. "I just happened to be there and I picked it up and put it in," Sarker said. Coach Marc Van Arsdale was not only pleased with his team's upset of Harvard but also with its ability to win on the road. "We beat a good team on the road in a hard fought game," Van Arsdale said. "It was a game we had to battle to win." Penn goalie Ryan Kelly, who held the lead by keeping the remaining Crimson shots out of the back of the net, thought that Penn emerged victorious due to the team's unselfishness on the field. "It was up and down the whole way, and no one decided they needed to win the game by themselves," Kelly said. "We won as a team." Kelly finished with 21 saves on the day, and thought that the defense was what ultimately enabled the Quakers to hand the Crimson its first loss of the season. "We played sound defense throughout the whole game and just kept doing it," Kelly said. At the end of the first quarter of play, Penn was in possession of a 3-2 lead. Yet, by the end of the second period, the Quakers headed to the sidelines behind by a single goal, 5-4. This roller-coaster like battle for the lead continued in the third quarter as Harvard broadened its lead to 7-4. Following Harvard's biggest lead of the game, the Red and Blue beat the Crimson goalie five times in a row, ending the period ahead by a 9-7 score. In the final period, the Crimson battled back once again, tying the game at the 6:42 mark. Sarker then scored Penn's game-winning goal to put an end to the see-saw battle. In addition to Sarker, Kevin Cadin and Todd Minerley were the driving forces of the Quakers offense. Cadin and Minerley each tallied four points a piece before the final horn. Both losses thus far for the Red and Blue have come to the likes of top 20 teams -- No. 2 Notre Dame and No. 20 Yale. With the upset of No. 18 Harvard, the Quakers have a chance to break into the top 20. However, Sarker pointed out that the team focuses more on beating its opponents than on the voting that occurs off the field each week. "We really don't look at polls; we just try to win the next game," Sarker said. The Red and Blue will try to build on their momentum coming from this win and build an Ivy winning streak against Cornell on Saturday, in New Cannaan, Conn.

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