Roundtable: What was the top moment for Penn athletics over spring break?

Spring Break was a dizzying time for Penn Athletics, with the women’s basketball team punching an NCAA Tournament ticket with a stunning upset win against Princeton on its own floor. But what was the top moment for Penn’s other teams? Our Sports Editors discuss:

Sports Editor Ian Wenik: I’m going to show some recognition for the men’s lacrosse team and what it was able to accomplish in front of a national TV audience on Fox College Sports against Villanova on the first Saturday of break.

Trailing 11-7 in the fourth quarter, the Quakers pulled off a comeback you almost never see, scoring five goals in eight minutes to somehow pull out a 12-11 victory in hostile territory. It’s certainly early in the season, but I’m sure that junior midfield Joe McCallion’s winning goal with just two minutes left to play will be one of the Quakers’ emotional high points.

Penn may have lost its only other match of break to then-No.16 Princeton, 15-12, but this team is currently sitting 13th in the nation with a lot of momentum as it heads into Ivy play and a date on Saturday with No. 3 Cornell. An NCAA run could be coming.

Senior Sports Editor Steven Tydings: While men’s lacrosse pulled off the impressive win away from home, Penn wrestling had a solid showing in the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) Championships in the friendly confines of the Palestra.

The Quakers had two grapplers get to the finals of their weightclass. No. 11 in the country, junior Lorenzo Thomas was ranked No. 2 in EIWAs at 184 pounds, and made a run all the way to the finals to have a rematch with Cornell’s No. 1, Gabe Dean. While Dean was able to defeat Thomas, 3-1,thanks to a controversial takedown, Thomas clinched an NCAA berth and will be No. 11 in Oklahoma City in his weightclass.

Meanwhile, senior Brad Wukie was the surprise of the weekend, defeating No. 5 Brian Harvey of Army to get to the finals, where he was upended. Wukie will head to NCAAs as well, facing off with Pittsburgh’s No. 7 Tyler Wilps .

Sophomore Casey Kent had a solid showing at 165 pounds, making it to the semifinals. Kent lost two of his final three duals, but he came out with a bid to NCAAs thanks to a fourth-place finish. And while freshman Caleb Richardso nlost both of his matches at EIWAs, he received an at-large bid to NCAA Championships at 125 pounds, where he will face the No. 9 ranked grappler, Wyoming’s Tyler Cox .

Sports Editor Riley Steele: I tip my hat to Mike McLaughlin and the rest of the women’s basketball squad for a remarkable performance over break. But I think one definitely needs to take a look at the work of the Penn women’s lacrosse team from the past two weekends.

On the field, the Quakers took down two quality Ivy opponents to kick off their Ancient Eight slate. On Mar. 8, No. 15 Penn took down Harvard in a defensive battle, one that saw both teams go scoreless over a 15-minute period. The 9-4 victory moved head coach Karin Brower-Corbett into a first-place tie on Penn’s all-time wins list with 151.

Corbett didn’t have to wait much longer to pick up her 152nd win though. The following weekend, the Quakers, who moved up to No. 13 in the country after their win over the Crimson, took down Yale, 11-9. Senior attack Tory Bensennotched another goal, improving her team-leading mark to 13 on the season.

The Red and Blue have now won 11 consecutive Ivy contests, and 50 of their last 52. Penn will play four consecutive nonconference games before returning to conference play on Apr. 12 .