Fortunately for the men's lacrosse team, Bucknell does not always live up to its giant-killer reputation.
Just one week after the Bison knocked off then-No. 1 Maryland in double-overtime -- and after the Bucknell men's basketball team won its second NCAA Tournament game in two years -- Penn beat the Bison in Lewisburg, Pa., 6-4.
In fact, it is the Red and Blue (6-0, 1-0 Ivy) that has been slaying dragons as of late, having already knocked off Villanova, North Carolina and UMBC.
The 14th-ranked Quakers are now one of only three undefeated Division I programs, along with No. 1 Virginia and No. 3 Cornell.
But that doesn't mean they got there easily.
Last night's contest appeared to be a low-scoring one at the outset as neither team could get on the board for more than eight minutes.
But soon enough, Penn erupted for three goals in under five and a half minutes, and when senior James Riordan scored a man-up goal with under a minute left in the half, Bucknell (3-4, 0-2 Patriot) was facing a 5-0 deficit.
However, the Quakers would not find the net for another 22 minutes, and Bucknell used that drought to creep back into the contest.
"We knew coming into the game that they were a very good team, that they were very good defensively," Penn coach Brian Voelker said.
Whatever reasons there may have been, Voelker expressed disappointment that his team couldn't put Bucknell away.
"We got a bunch of shots in the third quarter," he said. "We got a bunch of one-on-ones; ... we got a bunch of open looks. We just didn't finish off [shots] like we did in the first half."
"I think we got a little scared," said Riordan, whose game-high two goals both came in the opening half.
The Bison, meanwhile, finally got on the board four minutes into the second half, and then Bucknell leading scorer Joe Mele scored back-to-back goals just minutes apart.
"They got a couple of lucky goals," Voelker said. "The ball bounced their way, [and] they got two easy goals."
Bucknell was able to cut the deficit to one soon after, but that was it. After a whistle on the Quakers for shooting in the crease, junior David Cornbrooks scored to put Penn up 6-4, this time for good.
In the end, the game came down to defense, with both teams shooting poorly. Bucknell took 29 shots to Penn's 28.
P. J. Gilbert dished out a game-high three assists for the Quakers, who continued to struggle at the face-off battle, taking just four of 12.
And even though the Quakers struggled a bit down the stretch, they are not taking this win -- their second of the year over a ranked team -- lightly.
"We did what we needed to do to win," Voelker said. "When we win the game, I'll take it, no matter what happens."
PENN 2 3 0 1 -- 6
Bucknell 0 0 3 1 -- 4
Scoring: PENN Riordan (2), Adrzejewski, Eberstein, Dixson, Cornbrooks. Bucknell Mele (2), Klett, Togneri.
