The Penn men's lacrosse team may have been satisfied just to get to play a game at the site of this year's NCAA Championships.
The problem was, it happened a few weeks too early.
After a heartbreaking year that included a nine-game losing streak, the Quakers ironically finished their season in the same place that the top four teams in the nation will play for the title on May 28 and 30 -- Lincoln Financial Field.
But the change in venue did not help Penn at all, as No. 5 Maryland handed the Quakers their worst loss of the season, 21-6, on Saturday.
In the midst of the first of two consecutive years of hosting the NCAA Championships, the Quakers (2-11, 0-6 Ivy) proved that they definitely do not belong in a championship setting, as they were physically overmatched by a more powerful Maryland team.
The Terrapins found out the next day that they will have a shot at making it back to Philadelphia for Memorial Day Weekend. They received an at-large bid and a No. 3 seed for the Tournament.
While Maryland (8-5) was able to dominate Penn from the opening faceoff, the Quakers made several errors on the field -- bad penalties, errant passes and missed defensive assignments -- that gave the Terrapins an even stronger grip on the pace of play.
And the Terrapins capitalized on all of Penn's mistakes en route to their largest goal tally since 1998.
"We talked about it all week ... we were going to have to play our best game, we were going to have to play a complete game, and we were probably going to have to get a little bit lucky," Penn coach Brian Voelker said. "We didn't. We started playing poorly and making mistakes."
The powerful Terrapins jumped out to a 4-0 lead on their first four possessions of the first quarter. The Quakers did not even register an offensive possession in the first seven minutes of the game, losing the ball twice as they tried to cross midfield.
Finally, junior attacker Luke Dixson put Penn on the board on its first shot of the game. The goal came off an assist from senior Zandy Reich with five minutes to play in the first period.
But the Quakers were already out of the contest. And it only got worse from there.
The Terrapins scored twice in a 25-second span to open the second period. With junior David Tamberrino winning faceoff after faceoff, Maryland blistered Penn for seven goals in the second period to take a commanding 11-3 lead into halftime. The Terrapins won 19 faceoffs in the game compared to just 10 by the Quakers.
"They are a very good team; they took it to us today," Voelker said. "They're bigger, they're more athletic. They shoot the ball better than we do."
With the game out of reach in the second half, Voelker had the chance to put in players who received minimal time during the season.
"We've got a lot of young guys who have been working hard for us in practice," the third-year coach said. "We wanted to reward everybody for giving us everything they had all year."
Junior midfielder P.J. Gilbert, who started last season but was plagued with injuries for most of this year, made the most dramatic impact.
With Penn down 13-4 at the start of the fourth period, Gilbert worked a perfect give-and-go with classmate D.J. Andrzejewski that led to a goal.
Although it did not figure much into the result of the game, it gave a glimpse of what Penn can expect next year when both players return for their senior seasons.
"We've played a lot of young guys all year, but we've gotten some contributions from our seniors," Voelker said. "Next year is a different year. The kids ... gotta come back and show us what they can do in the fall."
Four different goalies received playing time in the game for Penn, including sophomores Greg Klossner and Ben Newton and freshman Kris Hermann, who was making his first appearance of his career with the Quakers.
The blowout was an especially rough way to end the careers of Penn's six seniors. Among the starters the Quakers will lose to graduation are goalie Denis Cole, defenseman J.T. Pitcher and attackers Reich and Brian Amen.
Voelker said it was hard to send the seniors off on such a sour note, but emphasized that each had a large impact on the Quakers over this season as well as over the last four years.
"It's hard sending them out ... I think we're all pretty upset with the way we performed today," Voelker said. "Denis didn't have his greatest game, but he's done a great job all year for us and kept us in some games."
"We're going to miss all those guys," Volker added. "They're great kids."
