Three Up, Three Down: Penn men's lacrosse vs. St. Joseph's

Penn men’s lacrosse got off to a rough start in its season opener on Friday, falling in a defensive slugfest to defending champion and top-ranked Duke, 9-6 . As the Red and Blue return to Philadelphia and prepare for their first home game of the season, we take a look at the Quakers’ upcoming matchup with St. Joseph’s.

Three Up -

Zack Losco: The senior midfield picked up right where he left off last season, notching two goals and an assist in Penn’s season opener. Though the Quakers didn’t have much offensive success on Friday, Losco was instrumental in a tight first half of play. The senior’s first-quarter goal helped knot the score after Duke struck early, and Losco’s assist just before the half helped Penn draw within one of the Blue Devils. Moving forward, Losco, who led Penn in scoring last season, will be looking to extend his ten-game streak with at least one point, a stretch that dates back to last season.

Penn’s back line: The Quakers didn’t have too much trouble slowing down Duke’s high-powered attack down in Durham, and much of the same can be expected against the Hawks. Senior goalkeeper Brian Feeney notched 10 saves against the Blue Devils and managed to hold Duke in check for much of the game following the first quarter. After giving up four goals in the opening period, Feeney and company held Duke scoreless for the remainder of the half, and kept the Blue Devils from scoring double-digit goals.

Matt Blasco: Take a bow, Mr. Blasco. In his first career start, the St. Joe’s sophomore attack scored three goals to go along with a trio of assists in the Hawks’ 14-6 win over VMI on Saturday . Blasco’s six points were key in getting St. Joe’s its first win of the season, and the sophomore was named NEC Player of the Week in recognition of his efforts last weekend.

Three Down-

Penn’s offense: The Red and Blue struggled to generate any sort of attack against Duke last weekend. Despite keeping the game close for much of the first half, the Blue Devils were able to score three straight goals without any sort of response from the Quakers. Though freshman attack Kevin Brownscored his first career goal, it was Penn’s only score of the second period. After an early goal after halftime, the Red and Blue went more than a quarter without scoring, ultimately letting the game slip away.

History for St. Joe’s: Recent trends won’t be on the Hawks’ side on Tuesday. Penn and St. Joe’s have played each of the past four seasons and ten times overall since 1997, and the Hawks have never beaten the Quakers. In fact, though the past two meetings between the cross-town rivals have been close, Penn won each game before 2012 by no less than eight goals. Don’t expect the Quakers’ streak to end any time soon.

The Elements: Mother Nature won’t be too kind to either team out on Franklin Field on Tuesday. Temperatures will be below freezing once the game begins and the wind will be howling. The conditions don’t sound anywhere as nice as the 70-degree weather Penn got to enjoy when it was down in Durham last weekend.