It is easy to look at the Penn men's lacrosse team and see a losing record and perhaps even a losing program.
Do not let the numbers fool you.
The program earned its first NCAA Tournament berth since 1989 last year. And despite its dismal 1-8 record so far this season, it remains a program on the rise.
I must admit that I had never seen a lacrosse game before this year. Frankly, I still do not truly understand the subtleties of the game. I don't even like that it all that much, to be honest.
But I thoroughly enjoyed every game I attended. The players on the team displayed more effort and heart than any of the several other teams I have covered at Penn. From a spectator's perspective, that is all we can ask for.
Against Princeton, for example, the players left everything on the field, and despite the overtime defeat, it was an amazing second-half comeback and overall effort.
As the players walked off the field, a group of Penn students approached one of the Quakers players and started heckling him. Clearly, they were friends, and were merely trying to use humor to help ease the devastating defeat.
The player stared at them and said quickly and intensely, "Not now." The heckler shut up, understanding how much the game meant. A victory would have broken Penn's streak of 15 consecutive losses to Princeton.
That kind of intensity is evident in both the players and coaches. Each and every game, head coach Brian Voelker can be seen marching around the sidelines, directing the players, pumping up the team and yelling at referees.
Whenever I interviewed Voelker after a defeat, I could hear the sense of disappointment in his voice. He puts so much energy and passion into his coaching, that each defeat stings him personally. His intensity is what propels the program.
It is no coincidence that the men's lacrosse program has been immensely more successful since Voelker's arrival. And so long as he is at Penn, fans can expect positive results.
Next year, Penn will return the core of its current roster, including seven of its top eight point scorers this season.
At the peak of that group is junior captain D.J. Andrzejewski, who leads Penn in shots, points and assists this season. There will be an experienced senior contingent on the roster, with James Riordan, Luke Dixson, Alan Eberstein and Patrick Rogers, just to name a few.
The Quakers will also return several underclassmen, such as sophomore David Cornbrooks and freshman Garret Blomquist, who rank fifth and seventh in points, respectively, among Penn players.
Despite having lost two All-Americans from last year's team, Voelker entered the season with high expectations to build on that success. But this year has certainly been a disappointing one for the Quakers -- there is no other way to put it.
Winning one out of nine games thus far would seem to be a real stumbling block to developing a winning program at Penn.
But this season's poor results are not indicative of a program on the decline.
Penn lost to lacrosse powerhouses Dartmouth and Brown by a combined three goals. A few lucky breaks could have resulted in Quakers victories. Certainly against Princeton, Penn had a legitimate chance to win in overtime.
In reality, if the Quakers had received the breaks they did last season -- going 5-1 in games decided by two goals or less -- they would be in a far different position. This season, though, has seen the Quakers go 0-5 in games decided by one goal and only fall by more than three goals on three occasions.
Winning one or both of its final two games against Loyola and Maryland -- both strong programs -- would set a positive tone for next season and demonstrate that this is truly a program on the rise.
Indeed, with a strong junior class and Voelker at the helm, rest assured that Penn's future is bright.
Josh Pollick is a junior political science major from Los Angeles. His e-mail address is jpollick@sas.upenn.edu.
