One look at the records of the Penn and Princeton men's lacrosse teams would make most people believe that they were the two worst in the Ivy League.
But nothing could be further from the truth about a Princeton team that has won a share of the last 10 Ivy titles.
Both the Tigers (0-5, 0-1 Ivy) and the Quakers (1-7,0-3) enter today's contest at Franklin Field facing a must-win situation.
But the Quakers still consider Princeton at the pinnacle of the Ivy League, despite their five-game winless streak to start the season.
"They need a win as much as we do," Penn coach Brian Voelker said. "But they are still at the top of our league until they are knocked off."
The Tigers opened their season with the toughest schedule in the nation, losing close games to Johns Hopkins, Virginia and Syracuse -- all of which are currently top-10 teams.
But the Tigers were handed a shocking loss by a much-improved Yale squad last weekend. With the 9-8 victory, the Elis knocked Princeton out of the national rankings for the first time since 1990.
In that game, Yale was able to dominate the defending Ivy champs inside the center circle. The Tigers lost 17 of 20 faceoffs to the Elis, including an 0-for-13 stretch for the last three quarters of the game.
But Princeton opening the Ivy season with a loss could spell doom for the Quakers, as the Orange and Black has not lost back-to-back Ivy games since the 1988-89 season.
And for the Quakers to bring their six-game losing streak to an end, they will have to somehow reverse their current slump and play their best lacrosse of the season.
"One thing that we are doing right now is giving up too many plays on defense," Voelker said. "Against Princeton, they have way too much talent to allow that."
Penn has lost its share of close non-conference games, but was blown out by stronger Ivy opponents such as Cornell and Yale.
And Princeton should be no exception this afternoon.
While Princeton has found remarkable success in the Ivy League, the Tigers have also done exceptionally well against the Quakers, defeating Penn in 15 straight matchups.
But the good news for the Red and Blue is that they have inched closer to their rivals in recent years.
Two years ago, Penn trailed by only one goal at halftime against a Tigers squad that featured two first-team All-Americans. Princeton eventually pulled away in the second half, however, and won 12-6.
But last season, the Quakers took Princeton to the brink, as the Tigers faced a 7-6 deficit in the fourth quarter before storming back with three unanswered goals.
"They have a lot of talent on offense, enough to always be in the game until the last minute," Voelker said.
This year, the Quakers can take advantage of Princeton's slow start to games. In its five losses, the Tigers have been outscored 12-5 and outshot 46-18 in the first quarter. Consequently, they have been forced to play from behind and have not led at the end of any quarter -- first or otherwise -- so far this season.
"Princeton is not known for being an uptempo, 'run 'em down' team," Voelker said. "They still have a pretty solid set of plays; we are going to have to keep attacking them for the entire 60 minutes."
