Penn men's lacrosse sees late comeback falls short in overtime

Facing a classic Ivy League rival, the Penn men’s lacrosse team put on a show for the 1,421 fans that filled the west side bleachers at Franklin Field.

The final result, though, left those fans with a bitter taste in their mouths.

After a spirited comeback to force overtime, the No. 13 Quakers (5-3, 1-2 Ivy) fell to Yale in the extra period, 7-6.

The narrow loss hit the Red and Blue hard after they managed to muster three separate comebacks from two-goal deficits to the Bulldogs (4-3, 1-2) during the game.

“It’s not surprising that it was close, a little frustrating that we didn’t convert more on the chances that we had and generate more chances to score,” coach Mike Murphy said.

But by the time Yale sophomore attack Kirby Zdrill rocketed a wide-open shot past junior goalie Brian Feeney, the Quakers had run out of chances.

Though Penn trailed midway through the fourth quarter, 6-4, two of the Quakers’ most reliable scorers came through when they needed them the most.

With 5:57 left, junior midfield Drew Belinsky slotted a feed from senior attack Tim Schwalje past Yale’s Dylan Levings.

Then, with just under two minutes left in the game, sophomore attack Isaac Bock scored on another assist from Schwalje to push the game into overtime.

Bock’s goal came only after Yale had been called for a pair of one-minute penalties and was whistled offsides after trying to break Penn’s onslaught.

The penalty box played a huge role throughout the day, as the Bulldogs were able to rally back from an early 2-0 deficit in the second quarter thanks to a pair of man-up goals of their own.

“I think it came down to a lot of their early-on goals were man up and same for us,” Schwalje said “And they got a lot of calls in the first half and we got a lot go our way in the second half. Both of us capitalized on those man-up opportunities.”

Though Penn was able to have offensive success in brief spurts, the Quakers found trouble penetrating Yale’s defense for much of the afternoon.

“They settled in somewhat defensively and started doubling us quickly,” Murphy said. “We were a little bit impatient. We were trying to hit fire balls into the crease that weren’t quite there … they picked them off and put them on the ground.”

“They did a good job sticking with us and playing that similar style,” Schwalje added. “We were always that one play away from really pulling away or getting a long streak then it came down to the basics, we had too many turnovers, sloppy stick work and we needed to knock down some shots.”

With the loss, the Quakers drop back into a tie with Yale for fifth place in the Ancient Eight and the road ahead doesn’t get any easier, as a trip to Providence to face a strong Brown squad looms large.

If the Red and Blue have learned from their disappointing defeat to the Bulldogs, they won’t be leaving any goals on the field against the Bears.

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