Any questions the Penn men's lacrosse team had about whether it could beat the best teams in the country under new coach Matt Hogan were answered on Saturday.
The Quakers upset No. 11 Notre Dame on Franklin Field in a thrilling 7-6 decision that marked the beginning of Hogan's tenure.
"We treat every game as being the most important," Penn senior midfielder Sonny Sarker said. "But all of us, we were a little more intense given it was the first game of coach's time and the first of the season."
Hogan's enthusiasm for his first Quakers' win was slightly tempered.
"It's big in that we'll at least have one," Hogan said. "It was a good win. The guys played hard and it's time to focus on the next one."
It was Sarker's second tally of the game that untied the back and forth game for good with 4:30 remaining. Sarker -- who also tallied an assist in the contest -- kicked off the game's scoring, staking Penn to a 1-0 lead.
The Quakers were knotted at two with the Fightin' Irish entering the second period when Penn exploded for three goals, including two from senior attack Scott Solow, who led the team with 22 last season. Senior Peter Scott also contributed a goal to give Penn a 5-3 halftime lead.
Notre Dame's Dan Berger refused to let Penn run away with the match, scoring three of his four goals on the afternoon in the first half.
"He's a very good off-the-ball-player," Hogan said. "He did a great job at finding the seams. He's just a good offensive player."
Berger also keyed the Irish's third period comeback as he and Kyle Frigon each scored once to tie the Quakers at five entering the decisive fourth period.
"We all knew we would win," Sarker said. "We all believed in each other, believed we would step up and win.
"We knew it was a 15 minute game and that we would win those 15 minutes," he said.
Freshman attack Zandy Reich scored his first goal in a Quakers' uniform at a very opportune moment, putting the Red and Blue in front, 6-5.
"I would actually expect that of Zandy more so than Sonny," Hogan said. "Sonny's become a much more disciplined lacrosse player. Zandy has the ability to score and we run some plays for him."
However, Notre Dame's Chris Richez knotted the game again with seven minutes remaining.
This set the stage for Sarker's heroics.
Hogan was particularly pleased with Penn's turnaround between the third and fourth quarters.
"What I enjoyed most was that we did not play well at all in the third period," Hogan said. "But we regrouped in the fourth and that was the most rewarding."
Ryan Kelly had a very solid performance as well, turning aside 15 shots for the Quakers, who were outshot, 28-21.
Hogan, coming from his past position as Navy's defensive coordinator, emphasized that team defense and getting to ground balls were the keys to victory for the Quakers.
Mission accomplished. The normally high flying Fightin' Irish were held to six goals -- two by players other than Berger -- while the Quakers got to 30 groundballs to the Irish's 19.
"He's a defensive minded coach and emphasizes the defensive aspects of the game," Sarker said. "He stresses taking care of the front of our net. We shoot for perfection, but coming out of that game allowing six goals is pretty good."
Tonight the team will travel to St. Joseph's (0-2) to take on their cross-town rivals at 7 p.m. The Hawks have struggled mightily on the season, losing to, Navy, 16-2, and falling to Villanova, 19-7, at home.
