Penn men's lacrosse seeks to end losing skid

It isn’t quite the start to the season that Penn men’s lacrosse hoped for.

Losses last week against then-No. 11 Maryland and Penn State dropped the Quakers (2-2) out of the USILA Coaches Poll entirely. But the Red and Blue will have a chance to bounce back on Tuesday as Penn will travel north to face a Lafayette team that has taken on a tough schedule so far this season.

The Leopards (1-2) faced off against ranked opponents in two of their first three games, losing to both No. 9 Army and No. 20 Colgate. The Quakers, though unranked, will offer yet another stiff challenge for Lafayette as the Leopards host a game at Fisher Stadium for the first time this season.

Sophomore attack Jason Sands leads the way for Lafayette with 10 points, eight of which have come on assists, this year while fellow sophomore Eric Joseph has scored a team-high five goals. The Leopards have only scored 7.67 goals per game, due in large part to a three-goal outing against Army.

On Penn’s side, senior attack Chris Hupfeldt will look to continue his offensive success after notching his first career hat trick against Penn State. Junior Nick Doktor led the Quakers in points last season with 42 and has already amassed 18 through his first four games in 2015.

Doktor, Hupfeldt and the rest of the Quakers’ offense will go up against Leopards goalkeeper Matt Cortese, who has been effective even in Lafayette’s losses. Cortese has saved 57.3 percent of shots on goal against him, a mark that ranks 12th in the nation.

However, Cortese won’t be quite as tough a test as the Red and Blue had against Maryland, as the Terps have junior Kyle Bernlohr in goal, the top goalkeeper in the nation through four games.

In Penn’s net, coach Mike Murphy seems to have figured out the goalkeeping situation moving forward. Junior Jimmy Sestilio started and played the entire game against Penn State after splitting time in goal with senior John Lopes during the team’s previous games.

Another question mark for the Quakers entering the season was their performance on face-offs, an issue that plagued the team down the stretch last year. Junior midfield Rob Savage has been taking the majority of face-offs for the Red and Blue this season with moderate success, going 37-for-70.

Following its two losses last week, a win against Lafayette would do wonders to get Penn’s season back on track.

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