COLLEGE PARK, Md. - On Saturday in College Park, Md., the men's lacrosse team did everything right. Players won faceoffs, defended physically and got off plenty of shots.
The one thing they could not do was score.
Against the No. 7 Terrapins, Penn's offensive futility continued, resulting in a scoreless streak of over 51 minutes and another lopsided loss, this time by a 9-4 margin.
"Our goalie played great, our defense played well, we faced off, we got ground balls," coach Brian Voelker said. "We just could not can a shot. When you don't put any pressure on the other team on the offensive end, you're not going to win, and we've shown that the last two games."
The Quakers (5-6, 3-3 Ivy) managed 43 shots and their four goals gave them a shooting percentage of just over nine percent, a stat which Voelker said is "unheard of" in lacrosse.
Part of the credit must go to Maryland goalie Brian Phipps, who played the best game of his career. The 2007 ACC Freshman of the Year saw most of those shot attempts and did not allow a goal on any of them, ending the game with 17 saves.
"I've been seeing the ball all week pretty good, so it gave me a lot of confidence today," he said. "Our whole defense knows that if we make some stops, the offense will punch it in sooner or later."
His biggest highlight of the day came when Penn attacker Corey Winkoff found himself alone behind the net. Phipps forced him to come around to the front and dove back into the crease, surprisingly stopping the ball in the process.
The only goal Phipps allowed was scored by himself. After Phipps got his stick on a loose ball in front of the crease, Winkoff checked him, and the ball trickled into the net. That brought the score to 2-1, but it was the only point for the Quakers until Phipps was pulled, to a standing ovation, with four minutes remaining.
The first half was mostly characterized by strong goalie play on both sides. In most games, Penn keeper Chris Casey's performance would have been remarkable. After letting in goals on Maryland's first two shots, he settled down and made nine saves on the day.
Eventually, though, the Maryland offense wore down the Red and Blue. The size advantage was especially notable. Freshman Grant Catalino, a 6-foot-5, 240-pound attacker, pushed around the Penn defense, but he was on the receiving end of plenty of hits as well. He had success though, netting two goals and an assist on the day.
"We're a little bigger and stronger, but they played tough and stuck with it right until the end," Catalino said. "We just got a flow to the offense, started moving the ball. And once we started doing that, we got some good shots, and they started falling."
Maryland (8-4, 2-1 ACC) slowly worked its way to a 9-1 lead, thanks to a plethora of scorers along with four assists from freshman Travis Reed. Comfortable with his team's lead, head coach Dave Cottle sent in the backups for the end of the game.
With Phipps and most of the Terps' starters gone, the Quakers finally got on the board again. Junior Garvey Heiderman ended the scoreless streak with three minutes remaining in the game and then fed freshman Al Kohart a minute later.
A comeback would have been nothing short of miraculous, though, and it was not to be. Junior Alex Weber made the deficit more respectable with 1:40 remaining, but the Terps were able to run out the clock and close the book on any postseason hopes the Quakers may have had.
