Two weeks ago, the Penn men's lacrosse team found itself looking at a final slate of three games, all of which would be against top 20 teams, and two of which would be on the road -- a place where the Quakers had yet to win this season.
With a record of 5-5 and two straight losses to Ivy League foes, the Red and Blue knew that they needed to make a statement if they hoped to clinch a spot in the field of 16 at the NCAA Tournament.
To this point, they have.
A week-and-a-half ago, the Quakers convincingly beat No. 10 Brown, jumping out to a 3-0 lead and never letting the Bears climb within two. The win clinched Penn's first undefeated season at Franklin Field since 1987 and placed them at No. 17 in the Geico/STX Coaches Poll.
This weekend, the Quakers took another giant step toward making the tournament, coming from behind to defeat Loyola, 7-5, and earning their first road victory of the season.
"I don't think the whole winless on the road thing was a big deal," said senior attackman Will Phillips, who extended his point streak to 30 games in the win. "We tried not to look into it too much and to look at it as a fluke. We didn't want to make it into a hurdle we had to overcome."
The 14th-ranked Quakers (7-5, 3-3 Ivy) jumped out to a 3-0 lead against the previously 19th-ranked Greyhounds (3-7).
"I thought it was good that we got a good start on them," Penn coach Brian Voelker said. "They had been struggling a little bit and I thought it was good for us to get out front early."
Penn, however, quickly allowed Loyola to sneak back into the game. The Greyhounds scored four straight to make it 4-3, before Penn senior defenseman Pat Connelly stopped the bleeding.
In a move that surprised many of Connelly's own teammates, the Lutherville, Md., native took the ball the length of the field and put an outside shot past Loyola goalie Michael Fretwell for his first point of the season. The teams went to the half tied 4-4.
Loyola took the lead again briefly at the end of the third quarter on a goal by Cory Coffman. But Phillips and sophomore Luke Dixson responded with goals 33 and 46 seconds later, respectively, to put the Quakers up for good.
"In a couple of the road games, especially the Army and the Yale games, I felt like we never played well," Voelker said. "It hasn't felt like we had the energy or the 'umph' that we have had in some of the other games. In this game, I thought we were playing well."
The Quakers were able to pull out the victory despite missing arguably their best midfielder in D.J. Andrzejewski. The sophomore turned his ankle during the Quakers' walk-through last Friday. Indications were originally not good, but Andrzejewski is not expected to miss another contest.
The Red and Blue will now turn their attention to No. 3 Maryland, which they will face in College Park, Md., May 8. A win against one of the nation's most consistent teams would all but ensure the Quakers of a playoff spot.
"Our motto for the next two weeks is going to be beat Maryland and you're in the tournament," Voelker said. "If we don't win that game we kind of leave our fate up to other people."
PENN 3 1 2 1 -- 7 Loyola (Md.) 0 4 1 0 -- 5 First quarter -- 1, 6:22, Dixson (P); 2, 4:51, Phillips (P); 3, 0:04, Riordan (P)
Second quarter -- 4, 14:22, Monfett, (L); 5, 10:19, Othman (L); 6, 5:47. Shek (L); 7, 5:34, Brundage (L); 8, 4:27 Connelly (P)
Third quarter -- 9, 3:26, Coffman (L); 10, 2:53, Phillips (P); 11, 2:40, Dixson (P)
Fourth quarter -- 12, 14:29, Haire (P)
