Voelker & Co. seek offensive touch

Penn coach Brian Voelker said that there are a lot of "lasts" this time of year.

He was referring to the team's last road trip of 2008 and the seniors' last of their careers.

More noticeable, however, is the last time that the Red and Blue scored more than five goals - April 5.

That was also the last time they won a game.

And the last time the Quakers went to Maryland, they lost, a 9-4 defeat to the No. 5 Terrapins that was not nearly as close as the score made it seem.

Trying to end a three-game skid, Voelker's squad will head back to the Old Line State tomorrow to face Towson (4-8), the first unranked team it will face since beating Dartmouth four contests ago.

Even though the Tigers have made the NCAA tournament five of the last eight seasons, they aren't exactly cruising through this year, either; after a brief stint in the top 20, they've lost three straight, two of those to Big Five schools Drexel and Villanova.

It's a far cry from where they were at this point last season, when they had picked up four wins over top-20 teams en route to their tenth NCAA berth.

What a difference a year makes.

"They've been struggling defensively and we've been struggling offensively," Voelker said. "Something's got to give here."

The Quakers hope their shooting is what gives. Of the 137 shots they've taken the last three games, fewer than half have been on goal and only 14 have found the back of the twine.

The top two goal-scorers on the team, juniors Craig Andrzejewski and Alex Weber, have netted only four combined over that span.

Freshman Al Kohart has four by himself and classmate Corey Winkoff has five points from four assists and one score.

With it's shooting percentage at .199, Penn wasn't sure which way to go while preparing this week.

"We're trying to figure out if we should do more shooting drills or stop doing them altogether," said Voelker. "Our guys just have to get out of their own heads. We just have to take a deep breath and shoot the ball and stop thinking so much."

Senior Max Mauro said its been business as usual on the practice field.

"Nothing's really changing," the co-captain said. "We're not pushing the panic button or anything."

But for the four-year defenseman from Pound Ridge, N.Y., tomorrow's game is a must-win if he wants to finish his final year in Philadelphia above .500.

The focus now is all about getting the next 'W'.

"It's just another week of preparation," Mauro said.

"Maybe at some point during the summer I'll look back, but at this point I just want to get the win."

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