Before the start of April in the 2014 season, Penn men’s lacrosse was the 18th-best team in the nation. They were 4-3 and only had lost to top-20 teams. They then whipped up a win streak that spanned the remainder of the regular season and the Ivy Tournament, finally screeching to a halt against Drexel in the NCAA Championship.
That was then, but this is now. And now is very different.
Entering the season ranked No. 13, Penn (3-6, 0-3 Ivy) has not been ranked since February, which was incidentally the last time the Quakers won a game. Losing to all five of its ranked opponents by over five points per game, Penn is seemingly not on track to finish above .500 in what could be its worst season since 2012 — the last year that Penn did not finish the season with a national ranking.
By losing its first three Ivy games — including a heart-breaking double overtime 10-9 loss to Cornell — the Quakers have put themselves in a situation where they need to win their remaining three Ivy games to have a shot at making the Ivy Championships in May to defend their crown.
That means that Saturday’s game against Brown is do or die.
A win against the Bears (8-1, 2-0) could be the first step towards tapping back into the undefeated April magic from 2014. And history might just be in Penn’s favor. Since 2011, the Quakers are 14-5 in April. Even in its dismal 2012 campaign, the team recorded two of its three wins in this month.
So how does a team on a four-game losing streak turn the ship around? The answer will have to be finding a reliable man in goal might be the key to resurrecting the 2015 season.
For the past four years, Brian Feeney was a stalwart in the net — he played all but 14 minutes of his senior season. But after his graduation in 2014, coach Mike Murphy has been forced to mix and match his keepers.
Despite the time senior goalie John Lopes spent as Feeney’s understudy, practice has not made perfect just yet for the Berwyn, Pa., native. He has lingered below a 50 percent save percentage thus far in the campaign, and junior goalie Jimmy Sestilio has actually played the majority of minutes.
No matter who is in goal for Penn, he will face intense offensive pressure from Brown, a team that has been averaging just over 16 goals per game this season. And behind a 62.4 percent face-off win percentage, the Bears will be a menace on attack if they are able to take control of the ball from the start of each play.
The pressure is on for Saturday. But Penn has been here before. And with a little bit of luck, they might be able to pull off a perfect April once again.
