If junior attackman Corey Winkoff and the Penn men’s lacrosse team had played their entire game this Saturday like they played the second half, they would have earned their fist Ivy victory in dominating fashion.
But despite outscoring the Bulldogs 12-6 after halftime, the Quakers dropped a nailbiter, 16-14, in New Haven, Conn.
Winkoff recorded all five of his goals and one of his two assists in the second frame. While his efforts helped spark a feverish comeback, they ultimately proved too little, too late.
“[Yale’s] early large lead was mostly a result of us playing poor defense, us taking bad shots and not executing,” Penn coach Mike Murphy said.
The Bulldogs (5-2, 1-2 Ivy) led just 3-0 after the first quarter, despite taking 12 shots compared to only four by the Quakers (4-6, 0-3). Yale attack Brian Douglass scored the first two of his career-high seven goals within the first seven minutes of the game.
“Douglass scored his goals in a wide variety of ways,” Murphy said.
From there on, it seemed there was little Penn goaltender Joe Hegener could do against Yale’s terrific ball movement and close-range shots.
Consecutive goals from sophomore attackman Matt Gibson gave the Bulldogs a 6-0 advantage, and for the remainder of the half, it was off to the races for the Elis.
The Bulldogs racked up 10 goals before Penn junior midfielder Al Kohart found the back of the net on an assisted goal with just 1:45 left in the first half.
Kohart then added an unassisted score with 17 seconds left to pull the deficit to 10-2 heading into halftime.
Penn coach Mike Murphy must have worked some magic with his troops during the intermission, because the Quakers came into the last 30 minutes fired up and on the attack.
“A few personnel changes,” Murphy said of the adjustments his team made at halftime, “and just focusing on getting good shots.”
Led by Winkoff, the Red and Blue pulled to within four goals, 14-10, with six minutes to go.
“Corey was fantastic, ” Murphy said. “We need more guys playing like Corey did against Yale.”
According to Yale coach Andy Shay, the Bulldogs’ offensive stagnancy gave Penn the opportunity to climb back into the contest.
“We were holding the ball in the fourth quarter and shouldn’t have been,” Shay said in a press release. “And that was my mistake.”
And yet, despite any mistakes they may have made, the Bulldogs still held a 16-11 advantage with about four minutes left.
Though Penn sophomore midfielder Dan Savage tried his best to put his team over the edge — he scored three goals within a two-minute span — it wasn’t enough.
In spite of a valiant effort, the Quakers’ comeback ended in a heartbreaking loss.
While the Red and Blue proved they could keep up offensively with the Bulldogs, they learned one invaluable rule: timing is everything.
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