M. Lax: Villanova next on tap for Quakers in final road game

The Penn men's lacrosse team picked up its first win in almost a month after defeating Lehigh on Tuesday and will now look to continue its hot play as the Quakers make the short trip to Villanova to face off against their local rivals, the Wildcats.

After a six-goal, two-assist outburst by sophomore Zandy Reich, the Red and Blue were able to eclipse double-digits for the first time since beating Army, 13-8, on March 15.

The offensive struggles earlier in the season were mostly attributed to a lack of execution on the offensive end and Penn coach Brian Voelker knows that all of the problems have yet to be fixed.

"I'm not sure if we've turned it around yet, we just won the one game," Voelker said. "It feels good to be back on the winning track, but we have a big one tomorrow night, and Villanova is a really good team."

Junior Will Phillips has been one standout who has not had any offensive inconsistency. Currently, Phillips is first on the team in goals with 21, becoming the first Penn lacrosse player to surpass the 20-goal mark since Scott Solow did it in 2001.

At the same time though, Voelker sees the improvement in his team's play and realizes that they have the ability to play with a team the caliber of Villanova.

"We need to play really well. The thing we did well against Lehigh was play really well offensively," Voelker said. "We didn't make many mistakes on the offensive end, and we shot the ball really well."

Despite the solid play of the offense against Lehigh, defensively the Quakers should be put to the test by Villanova's leading scorer Marc Creegan.

Creegan is currently the Wildcats' leader in goals with 27 and is coming off a four-goal performance against Lafayette.

Helping Creegan with the Wildcats attack is Brian Marks. The senior is second on the team with 19 goals and is similarly coming off a four-goal, four-assist performance against Lafayette.

For Penn, the defense has not been much of a problem all year, even during the team's recent mid-season slide. However, after a shaky defensive showing against Lehigh, there may be room for concern despite the win.

"I was not as happy with our defensive effort," Voelker said. "I thought it could have been a better effort. We're going to have to tighten that up if we want to win [tomorrow]."

One thing Voelker is not concerned about is a late-season letdown from his upperclassmen.

"The seniors have done everything that I've asked them to do," Voelker said. "They are starting to realize they only have two games left in their lacrosse careers, and a lot of guys stepped up and made them count against Lehigh, and I expect the same against Villanova."

The goal of having an above-.500 record remains within reach for the rest of the season. If the Red and Blue can win their final two games against Villanova and then Yale, they would finish with a 7-6 overall record -- the first time Penn would have back-to-back winning seasons since 1987-1988.

"Our guys are really focused on trying to get a winning season, and if we don't beat Villanova, that won't be possible," Voelker said. "We have to focus on Saturday night."

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