For the men's lacrosse team, it's all about the cowbells.
The raucous noisemakers brought by several Quakers fans to Saturday's matchup against Maryland-Baltimore County were mostly silent for the game's first two periods, as the Quakers fell behind 7-2 at the half.
But they came out in full force in the last quarter; No. 20 Penn mounted a furious comeback to beat the No. 17 Retrievers in overtime with a dramatic goal scored by senior James Riordan.
After the win, the Red and Blue finds itself tied with Loyola College for the last spot in the latest United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association poll.
The victory also capped an improbable spring break for the Quakers; the team posted wins over Villanova and North Carolina to improve to 4-0 overall.
After brothers D.J. and Craig Andrzejewski (who scored three goals each) helped Penn overcome a 2-4 halftime deficit to beat the Wildcats 9-6 at Franklin Field, the Quakers headed deep into the heart of ACC country to battle the then-No. 20 Tar Heels. Penn wasted little time getting its third win -- already surpassing last season's total -- as UNC led for less than two minutes before Penn scored nine unanswered goals en route to a 13-4 triumph.
The Quakers then returned to Philadelphia to face a UMBC squad that Penn coach Brian Voelker called "one of the best we'll face all year."
After falling behind early, the Quakers scored twice within two minutes to open the second half, soon chipping the deficit down to two. UMBC's Evan Kay scored once at the end of the third quarter and again to open the fourth to give the Retrievers a four-goal cushion, but they would not get on the board again.
Penn closed the gap to 9-11 after a UMBC penalty put the Quakers up a man. Then, freshman Casey O' Rourke and senior Alan Eberstein both hit unassisted goals in transition to tie the game with almost nine minutes left.
But neither team was able to break the deadlock in regulation, setting up Riordan's unassisted goal 1:15 into overtime that won the game for Penn.
"I was shooting all game, [and] none of them were really falling for me," Riordan said. "I just shot it as hard as I could."
Voelker was pleased with his team's performance.
"We're trying to take last year and put it behind us," he said. "We really scrapped and fought hard.
"It's great to be 4-0."
The Quakers have been playing without starting defenseman Matt Kelleher. The junior suffered a bruised lung over break and will likely return to action this week, in time for Penn's matchup at Yale this Saturday.
The Elis are currently sitting last in the standings, at 1-2.
