Postseason dreams put to bed

The small window to gain an improbable postseason berth officially closed on Penn men’s lacrosse in Hanover, N.H., this weekend.

Despite a team-leading four goals from senior Rob McMullen and six points from junior Corey Winkoff, the Quakers (5-8, 1-5 Ivy) were unable to overcome a career-high six tallies from Dartmouth’s Rhett Miller on their way to a 15-11 defeat.

With the loss, Penn finishes the season 5-8, for the second straight year. The 2010 campaign now marks Penn’s fourth straight season with a losing record.

Dartmouth (5-6, 2-3), on the other hand, was able to keep its postseason hopes alive, as the Big Green now trail fourth-place Brown by a single game with one weekend remaining. The two teams will face off against each other May 1 in Providence, R.I.

On Saturday, Dartmouth scored first and never relinquished the lead. Miller led the charge, breaking a 2-2 tie with three unanswered goals during a 2:44 stretch at the end of the first quarter.

But Penn fought back, as it dominated the time of possession, out-drawing Dartmouth 22-8 and out-shooting the Big Green 44-34 for the game.

McMullen answered Miller’s run with two goals of his own at the start of the second quarter. The Quakers, however, could not sustain their offensive efficiency. Despite having relatively few possessions, Dartmouth would score four of the game’s next five goals while the Penn offense sputtered.

“We talk about it all the time — making the most out of every possession,” coach Mike Murphy said. “And [Dartmouth] just did a better job of that.”

According to Murphy, poor shot selection finally caught up to his team.

“We scored a lot of goals, but we also had a lot of possessions,” he said. “Their goalie played well, he’s a good goalie and he had a good day, but a lot of those saves were just on bad shots.”

While Dartmouth’s Fergus Campbell made 16 saves to ensure his team’s win, Penn’s Joe Hegener only recorded eight.

Just one week removed from shutting down No. 15 Harvard, Murphy admitted his netminder had an off day.

“Joe Hegener, in goal, quite frankly wasn’t the same. Joe made some nice saves, but he just wasn’t on the same way he was last week,” he said.

Winkoff righted the Penn offense in the third quarter, scoring a goal and setting up another to bring the Quakers within one. They went into the fourth trailing 11-10.

Dartmouth’s Josh Gillam doubled the lead early in the fourth, and Miller netted his sixth soon after, giving the Big Green a 13-10 lead and essentially ending the Penn season.

After allowing yet another game slip away in the fourth quarter, Murphy acknowledged his team’s frustration with a 5-8 record.

“We know that we could be better than that. But despite our record, [the seniors] should feel really good about where the program is,” he said.

“I do feel good about the future. I do feel like we’ve got a strong foundation step. And if we can take care of the little things next year, we can improve our record moving forward.”

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