PRINCETON, N.J. -- Every time two lacrosse teams step on the field, only one departs with a win.
But rarely does that team take over a game the way Princeton took over last night's.
In the nation's deepest league, in the college sport with more parity at the top than almost any other, the Tigers dominated from the get-go and exposed every single one of Penn's weaknesses.
The early hole Penn found itself in was nothing serious, and the game still seemed competitive well into the second quarter.
Then, after senior P.J. Gilbert sidearmed a bullet past Tigers goalie Alex Hewit to knot the game at three, Princeton managed another goal.
Thirteen seconds later, the Tigers streaked up the field to score virtually unopposed.
Nineteen seconds later, the same thing, with the same two players recording the goal and assist.
The Tigers would add two more unassisted goals on successive possessions just minutes later.
Penn managed to get a pair of those goals back before halftime, but the damage was done. Princeton had already shown that it could erupt at any time, and that intimidating presence stayed in the mind of every player on the field.
"They're a talented team, but I think we were a little intimidated by their goaltender," senior midfielder Alan Eberstein said. "We didn't take a lot of the shots we wanted to.
"We were just trying to push [fast] breaks sometimes, and we just couldn't connect."
And after Penn failed to get back on track immediately (taking five unsuccessful shots in under a minute at one point), the game was effectively over.
Penn had gone from "let's win" to "let's not lose" to "let's not get humiliated by too much" in a matter of minutes.
This game was not an extraordinary performance by the Tigers. Just a good, hustling beatdown by a team that has learned how to systematically dismantle its opponents. After all, there is a reason behind those nine NCAA Tournament appearances by Princeton in the past 14 years.
"Every year, they're a very patient team, very disciplined, and they've always got talent," Eberstein said.
That is what separates good programs from great ones: excellence year in and year out, and the ability to win against equally athletic teams.
That greatness is not as easy to achieve as it may seem, however. Increased expectations, never being an underdog and the constant pressure to boast a perfect record make the jump from "successful" to "perennial powerhouse" a huge one.
Obviously, no one doubts the talent of this year's players.
Find anyone who saw Penn come back from a 6-1 deficit to beat Dartmouth in regulation and tell me that Penn doesn't have the ability to be a winner.
In fact, find anyone who knows lacrosse, and they'll tell you -- Penn's seniors are likely among the best in the country.
Still, while their victories so far may have taught them how to win, yesterday the Quakers discovered just how difficult it is to break the stranglehold of a team like Princeton -- to beat a team where dominance is the rule, not the exception.
Intimidation hurts in any sport. It hurts especially badly in an opponent's stadium against a rival team. And it is deadly against one of the marquee programs in collegiate lacrosse.
That's what turned this one into a laugher; the Quakers looked like they did not expect to win tonight.
Was there even one turning point?
"Maybe when the [opening] whistle blew," Penn coach Brian Voelker said.
It's the same story: good vs. great. A great team, a team that contends every year, finds ways to get out of those slumps when nothing is going right.
Penn couldn't even come close to doing that last night.
A repeat performance simply can't happen.
If Penn does make the NCAA Tournament (which it almost certainly will), that will still be an accomplishment to be lauded, a fantastic turnaround.
But the Quakers, and especially Voelker, likely recognized last night that their program still has a long way to go before being considered a true member of the nation's elite.
They have made it this far, and for that they should be commended.
Now it's time to play with the big boys.
Andrew Scurria is a freshman in the College from Wilmington, Del. His e-mail address is scurria@sas.upenn.edu.
