Facing No. 2 Navy in the first round of the Division I NCAA Tournament in Annapolis, Md. last Saturday, the Penn men's lacrosse team knew that it would have its hands full.
And after a hard-fought effort, the underdog Quakers lost 11-5 to the Patriot League Champions, who are now 13-2.
Mustering only a single goal in the first two quarters, the Quakers (7-7) faced a 4-1 deficit at the end of the first half.
Sophomore midfielder P.J. Gilbert and senior tri-captain Will Phillips brought the Quakers within striking distance in the third quarter, netting three goals between them. But the consistent dominance by the Midshipmen would go unanswered as the game unfolded.
In the third quarter, Navy shut the door on the Penn rally as Second-Team All-Patriot League attacker Joe Bossie scored three consecutive goals in little over two and a half minutes.
For the game, the Midshipmen outshot the Quakers by a blistering 36-18 total, while winning 12 of 20 faceoffs and converting on three of four extra man opportunities.
Penn freshman Mark Becker, sophomore Alan Eberstein and junior Zandy Reich all scored for the Quakers in the loss, while senior goalie Ryan Kelly posted a game-high nine saves. Six of Kelly's nine saves came in the first half, in which he allowed only four goals despite 18 Navy shots.
"Kelly kept us in it as long as he could," said Phillips. "Unfortunately on the offensive end, we didn't put it in as much as we should have, and we didn't convert some opportunities that would have given us a better chance to win," he added.
While the offense managed three goals in the third quarter, it scored only two goals combined in the first, second and fourth periods. The Quakers' inability to piece together a consistent attack against one of the nation's most dominant teams limited their chance at success.
"For a few minutes at a time, they were just too much for us," Phillips explained. "We were turning the ball over on offense, and they just kept scoring. But that's what Navy does ... and when we let our guard down, they went on a few runs and put us away."
The playoff appearance was the first for the Penn men's lacrosse program since 1989, when the Quakers also fell to Navy. The win is significant for Navy as well, as it marks the first time 13 years that the Midshipmen have advanced past the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Penn received an at-large bid to the Tournament after a 7-6 regular season in which the team faced six ranked opponents, and five teams in the top-10. The Quakers defeated two top-ten teams, Brown and Cornell, while earning ranking as high as No. 13 after defeating Loyola on April 24. Penn finished with a strength-of-schedule ranking of eight and an RPI of 10.
Will Phillips' career-high 30-game point-scoring streak was snapped in the team's loss to Maryland in the final week of the season. In his final collegiate game, he added a goal and an assist to his resume, polishing off a senior campaign in which he earned First-Team All-Ivy recognition.
Fellow senior, defenseman Patrick Connelly joined Phillips as a First-Team All-Ivy selection, marking the first time Penn has contributed two players from the same season to this prestigious list since 1989. Kelly, along with senior Ethan Haire and sophomore D.J. Andrzejewski all received honorable mention All-Ivy honors.
"Coming into the year, we didn't have the most talented team, and looking at our schedule, we knew we'd have a lot of tough games." Phillips said. "But to have a winning season and to receive an at large bid to the NCAA's -- I think that's more than anyone expected."
