After the Penn men's lacrosse team lost to No. 2 Navy in the first round of the Division I NCAA Tournament, I asked senior captain Will Phillips to explain the biggest impact that second-year coach Brian Voelker and his staff had this season on a team that defeated two top-10 opponents, posted an undefeated 6-0 home record, and earned the lacrosse program its first playoff appearance in 15 years.
In response, Phillips explained that Voelker and his young staff brought with them a level of confidence to the lacrosse program that had been lacking in years past. For a program that had gotten used to a level of mediocrity since its last NCAA Tournament appearance in 1989, this confidence would play an important role in the team's unexpected run through one of the nation's most difficult schedules.
On February 28, I sat in the stands at Homewood field in Baltimore, Md. as Lacrosse Magazine's No.1 ranked Johns Hopkins Blue Jays hosted Penn in the season opener for both teams. On the train ride down, I remember thinking that the heavily favored Blue Jays would most likely embarrass Voelker, a Blue Jay alum, and his relatively unknown squad that afternoon.
In speaking with Voelker before the game, I remember being astonished by his confidence. Not only was Voelker confident that his Quakers would put up a good fight against a Johns Hopkins team favored by many to win the national championship -- he thought that they could actually win.
The Quakers didn't win that game in late February, but they did set the stage for an impressive season. Losing 10-9 despite a last second offensive onslaught, the team sent a powerful message to the lacrosse community -- one that would echo throughout the remainder of season.
It was a message of confidence.
Coming into the season, Voelker and his staff put together a schedule that included traditional NCAA powerhouses Johns Hopkins, Cornell, Princeton, Brown and Maryland.
As if the Ivy League schedule wasn't tough enough, the Quakers were set to travel out of the conference -- and away from Franklin Field -- against arguably two of the top three teams in the country (Hopkins and Maryland).
The Penn schedule ranked eighth in the nation, while the team ended the year with an RPI of 10, despite its seven losses. That says a lot about the schedule.
And while the squad would struggle away from Franklin Field, losing seven out of eight matches, the Quakers performance week in and out was strong enough to earn the program its first playoff bid since the last George Bush was in office. That says a lot about the team.
The selection committee was not only confident that the Quakers, who reached a ranking as high as No. 13, were good enough to take part in the Division I championship of college lacrosse. They were surely impressed with the confidence that the program -- led by second year coach Brian Voelker -- had in itself.
This selection marked much more than a turning point in a traditionally average program. It meant more than an extra week at school and a trip to Annapolis, Md.
By facing one of the toughest schedules in the country and coming out with an NCAA tournament bid, the team of 2003-2004 has instilled a new mentality in their program.
That says a lot about their confidence.
