COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- It wasn't rankings, history, or experience that decided the Penn men's lacrosse team's matchup with No. 3 Maryland.
And it wasn't talent either.
It was momentum.
Head coach Brain Voelker and the No. 10 Quakers discovered that reality the hard way on Saturday, as the powerful Terrapins used an early scoring burst and a clamp-down on defense to secure their 12-4 Senior Day victory at Byrd Stadium.
Penn (10-3, 4-2 Ivy League) was never able to change the direction of the game and suffered the first and only blemish on its nonconference record.
More importantly, the Quakers threw their status in the upcoming NCAA Tournament selection into doubt.
"We talked to our guys for two weeks about [how if] we beat Maryland today... nobody can keep us out," Voelker said.
But the right gameplan never materialized for Voelker or his players.
"They're bigger, stronger, faster than us," he added. "We talked to our kids all week about making good decisions and doing things the right way, controlling the ball, and we really didn't do a lot of those things."
And that lack of discipline and tenacity was the story from the very beginning, as Maryland scored on their first possession, getting off six shots against the Quakers defense before finding the net. Meanwhile, on the ensuing possession, Penn won the face-off but quickly turned the ball over on a crease violation without taking a shot.
But though the visitors would take a total of 13 shots in the first quarter -- Maryland took just one more, on which they also scored -- the only offense Penn could generate was a single unassisted goal scored by freshman Craig Andrzejewski.
Penn had a chance to grab some momentum of their own at the opening of the next quarter, as the Terps came out cold and disjointed on offense. But when Maryland emerged from a time-out taken less than two minutes in, it again looked like the team that knocked off Johns Hopkins three weeks ago. And soon enough, some nifty passing allowed Maryland's Bill McGlone to fire a shot past Penn goalie Gregory Klossner's ankles as the Terps quickly righted their ship.
Then the floodgates swung open, and the successive goals came in all shapes and sizes for the Terps. When the dust finally settled, Penn headed into the locker room on the wrong end of a 7-1 score.
All the while, the upset-minded Quakers struggled to finish their drives and get clean looks at the net.
Voelker attributed his players' offensive struggles in part to Maryland's ability to keep the ball out of their own territory for much of the game.
"When [opponents] have the ball so much, then you start to press on the offensive end a little bit and do some things you don't want to do."
Penn finally managed to get on the board again when senior P.J. Gilbert fired a bullet into the top-left corner of the net with 9:04 to play in the third quarter. Then, after Maryland's Joe Walters responded with a fast-break score four minutes later, the Quakers tallied a pair of goals to bring the game back within reach.
But the Maryland killed any momentum the Red and Blue had built up, as Walters blew right past Penn's defense and scored for the fourth time with just a minute left in the period. That goal was also the 150th of his career, a school record.
"We made a two-goal run, we had things going, and [then] we just gave them some easy opportunities and they scored," Voelker said.
That shot made the score 9-4 to begin the last quarter, and the deficit would only grow from there on out.
Said Voelker: "I thought [the team's play] got better in the second half, but when you give a team like that a six- or seven-goal cushion, you're not going to win."
Maryland was by no means the most efficient team, committing 17 turnovers to the Quakers' 15, but when they had chances they rarely failed to deliver.
The Terp's offense featured goals from six different players, led by four from Walters -- recently named ACC Player of the Year for the second time. They outshot the Quakers by a 44-33 margin and, amazingly, also tallied seven assists from six different players. Penn had just one, from junior Alex Salihi.
Also notably absent from Penn's offense were D.J. Andrzejewski, David Cornbrooks, and Alan Eberstein, all of whom were held without a point. The trio had combined for almost six points per game before Saturday.
"I think all the guys are hoping for a second chance in the Tournament," senior defender Joe Shanagan said.
Look for an update on the Quakers' tournament prospects later today on dailypennsylvanian.com and get full coverage in the May 12 Graduation Issue of The Daily Pennsylvanian.
