On a sunny Saturday, Penn men’s lacrosse (5-5, 2-2 Ivy) couldn’t stave off defeat from reigning conference champion Cornell (6-3, 3-1 Ivy).
Friends and family filled the crowd with overwhelming pops of red and blue and lively chants, while program alumni showed out to support current players. Despite the spirited atmosphere, Penn men’s lacrosse ultimately fell short, suffering a 16-8 defeat. Penn is now ranked No. 5 in the Ivy League and No. 15 in the nation.
“We were not nearly as sharp as we need to be in order to beat a team like Cornell,” coach Taylor Wray said. “I felt like they whipped our butt on the face off and the ground ball play in the middle of the field.”
Cornell’s scoring streak
The first half featured a back-and-forth conversation as the teams exchanged goals. Cornell struck early, scoring just seconds off the opening faceoff. Penn responded with three goals in 12 seconds as freshman faceoff Quinn Ball’s unassisted goal helped tie the game at 4-4. After both teams traded goals early, the Big Red fired off with five unanswered goals to capture a 9-5 lead heading into halftime.
“I felt like their offensive ball movement was superior to ours, and we have to play better in order to beat a team like that,” Wray said.
Cornell played an aggressive offense from the onset, nearly doubling Penn in shot attempts, 26-12 at the half. Penn’s gritty defense, which put pressure on the Big Red early on, could only hold off for so long, as Cornell began to take over as the half closed.
Scoreless third quarter for Penn
Penn started the third quarter with the chance to decrease the point gap. The Quakers failed to utilize a two-minute, non-releasable extra-man opportunity despite the extra numbers on the field.
Although the Red and Blue heightened their defensive intensity to start the second half, Penn struggled to contain the Big Red, surrendering four consecutive goals as Cornell extended the lead 13-5.
“Anytime we got a little bit of momentum, we followed it up with a mistake, or a faceoff loss, so we couldn’t really get a whole lot going,” Wray said. “They went on a run where, you know, they scored early in the third, and then won the next faceoff … and we couldn’t get the stops that we needed in order to break their momentum.”
With the point gap widening, the Penn alumni grew more raucous, and Cornell players responded with a noticeably feisty back-and-forth banter. The action on the field got fiery in turn as the Big Red upped its defense, rendering the Quakers scoreless during the third quarter.
“I felt like we were timid on offense. You know, they exert some pressure early in the offensive sets, and we did not deal with that pressure well,” Wray said. “It felt like we never got the ball moving. And, you know, we just needed to get more possessions.”
The Quakers finally answered in the fourth quarter with an unassisted goal from freshman attacker Jackson Maher, followed by senior midfielder Griffin Scane’s third point of the day, but the deficit was too wide to overcome. The game closed with a 16-8 final score.
“I think we’re still in a pretty good position.” Wray said, “We got two Ivy League games left here to try and qualify for the Ivy League tournament, and that’s our first goal was to make the postseason and qualify for the Ivy League tournament. We[’ve] got to make sure that we are ready to play and get off to a better start in the next one.”
Penn men’s lacrosse will head to New Jersey on April 11 to face the Princeton Tigers in its penultimate game of the regular season, hoping to seize the chance to capture a win for a postseason run.
