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(05/02/01 9:00am)
Heading into Sunday's season finale with American, the Penn women's lacrosse team had a few goals in mind.
On the team level, the Quakers were trying to finish at .500 for the first time since 1994, and thereby improve their chances of being selected on May 8 to compete in the post-season ECAC Tournament.
And on the individual level, defender Amy Weinstein -- the sole senior on Penn's roster -- was on a mission to net her first goal of the spring.
Done and done.
With a mere 60 seconds remaining on the clock and in her collegiate career, Weinstein found the back of the net off an assist from freshman Chelsea Kaden, putting the Quakers up 12-4 and sending the Franklin Field crowd into a frenzy.
Penn (8-8) went on to score once more, and defeated the overmatched Eagles, 13-4, to finish its 2001 campaign with a bang.
"It's great to end on a win, and for us to be 8-8 feels really good," Penn junior attacker Jenny Hartman said. "We're really excited for Amy, because she really wanted to score a goal today and she did."
Weinstein, who amassed 18 goals as an attacker during her first two seasons and netted one apiece as a defender in her junior and senior years, was also excited -- on both counts.
"It's good to go out on a high note. Not a lot of Penn teams have been able to do that in the past," said Weinstein, who is also excited about the possibility of extending her career for two more games should the Quakers get selected for the ECAC Tournament. "We'd always just joked around about how in the last game that if we were winning by a lot, I'd go in on attack and get my goal. And I was tired -- I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off out there.
"It took a couple of shots, but I did it. It was just kind of a relief."
Quakers sophomore Bess Lochocki also scored her first of the season, classmate Christy Bennett netted her second and Kaden tallied her third as a slew of unlikely suspects beat the American (6-9) goalie in the final minutes.
But over the game's first 33 minutes -- during which Penn built an insurmountable 7-1 lead -- it was the Red and Blue's usual suspects who did the trick.
After the Eagles jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, junior Traci Marabella -- the Quakers second-leading scorer in 2001 with 16 goals and 16 assists -- tallied the equalizer to erase American's only lead of the day.
Minutes later, Kate Murray -- Penn's top scorer with 30 goals and five assists -- put the Quakers ahead to stay on a free-position shot.
Hartman had a hat trick and sophomores Alison Polk-Williams and Jayme Munnelly also found the net during this stretch, as the Quakers continually pressured the Eagles. Penn overcame a number of clearing errors and turnovers in the midfield by doubling the visitors and forcing them into mistakes of their own.
As evidenced in this season-ending victory, the Quakers have begun to climb their way up the ladder of college lacrosse.
In coach Karin Brower's second year at the helm of the team, Penn moved from seventh to fifth in the Ivies. Along the way, the team defeated Harvard and Brown for the first time since 1998 and 1996, respectively.
"Moving up two spots in the Ivies was probably the highlight [of this season]," Brower said. "That was a realistic goal of ours -- to be in the middle of the pack. Whereas next year, we're definitely going to be shooting higher than that."
Penn's improvement in the standings can be traced directly to Brower's ability to locate problems with the team early on and to correct them on the fly.
"I thought we did better as the season went along with moving the ball through the midfield -- passing it rather than running it. But we still have a long way to go with it, because we are young," said Brower, whose roster includes 21 freshmen and sophomores.
With only one senior graduating and nine new players set to matriculate to Penn in the fall as part of Brower's first true recruiting class, things can only get better for the Red and Blue.
"It's going to be a very different team next year," Brower said. "The biggest thing is we're going to have depth in the midfield."
And with the addition of several blue chip recruits who passed on scholarship offers from top 20 schools to come to West Philadelphia, the Quakers have their sights set even higher for next year.
"Our ultimate goal is to go to NCAAs," Hartman said. "And I think that's feasible next year, as everyone will be a little bit older and a little more experienced."
(04/26/01 9:00am)
After an 18-6 drubbing courtesy of No. 2 Syracuse, the Penn men's lacrosse team was hoping to bounce back and guarantee itself a winning season.
The No. 19 Quakers (6-6) failed in their mission, as they suffered a 10-9 overtime loss at Villanova (6-6) last night.
Penn had a lead in each of the last three quarters, but failed to pick up an insurance score all three times.
As a result, the Wildcats were able to tie it up on each occasion to keep their chances alive for an upset.
That upset became a reality when Villanova junior attacker Justin Marks found the back of the net off a feed from junior midfielder Randall Calvert with 3:15 left in the overtime period.
And while it was the overtime score that ultimately iced the Quakers, it was Villanova's 3-0 lead at the end of the first quarter that put them in a hole from the start.
"What hurt us most was the lapse in the first quarter," Penn junior defender Read Mortimer said. "We didn't come out fired up enough. As a team, we came out flat and let them get three quick goals.
"In an overtime game, that is what lost us the game."
The Quakers responded, however, with a 3-0 run of their own. Sophomore attacker Scott Solow scored just 12 seconds into the second quarter, and seniors Todd Minerley and Adam Solow soon followed suit.
After Penn's goals tied the score at three, the remainder of the game was characterized by parity between the two teams.
One factor in Penn's failure to blow out the Wildcats was the loss of senior midfielder Kevin Cadin.
Penn's leading scorer with 19 goals, 11 assists and 30 points, Cadin suffered a season-ending injury last weekend at Syracuse when he tore his ACL.
Last night's game was the first Cadin has missed all season.
And while the Quakers do have depth on the bench, their difficulties adjusting to the loss were evident on the field.
"Pete Scott moved down to attack, and we moved some guys to midfield, but you can't really replace one of your main players," Mortimer said.
Nonetheless, the Quakers aren't blaming the situation on their star player.
"We definitely missed Kevin Cadin in the lineup, but that's not an excuse," Scott Solow said.
The Quakers will be without Cadin again as they try to salvage a .500 season with a win over Delaware this weekend.
"With three days left, no one wants to give up on... a winning record," Mortimer said. "Everyone's going to come out hard the next three days and hopefully the results on Saturday [against Delaware] are going to show it."
(04/26/01 9:00am)
To say that the Penn women's lacrosse team is having a breakthrough season would be an understatement.
Three weekends ago, the Quakers beat Harvard for the first time since 1998.
And just last weekend, Penn took out Brown for the first time since 1996.
"It was amazing. I've never beaten Brown in my four years here," Penn senior defender Amy Weinstein said. "It was real emotional, and after the game, I was taking pictures of the scoreboard in the background with my parents. It was definitely a big deal."
And with the 9-8 victory over the Bears, the Quakers picked up their seventh win of the season -- a milestone that has been out of the program's reach for 16 of the last 17 years.
"It's a product of the intensity we try to ask for in practice," Penn coach Karin Brower said. "They're understanding what it takes to play at the top of Division I. We're not all the way there yet, but we're climbing the ladder."
The win also gave Penn its first three-win Ivy season since 1996.
"Harvard and Brown were big wins for us to go up the Ivy League ladder," Brower said.
So with two games left in the regular season, the 2001 Quakers only have one hurdle left to jump -- finishing with a .500 record or better, a feat that they have not accomplished since 1994.
"If our next two games are wins, we're going to finish with the first winning season in who knows how long," Weinstein said. "Plus, with the chance of maybe going to the ECAC tournament, [a win would] look good for us and hopefully get us in the door."
The Quakers (7-7) will take their first shot at the .500 season at 4 p.m. today against Atlantic 10 regular-season champion Temple (8-5) on the Owls' home turf.
"Temple's going to be a rough game for us," Brower said. "They're much more physical than any team we've seen."
The Quakers -- in sharp contrast to the Owls -- rely on their speed and quickness.
Nonetheless, Penn has had some success against the big, physical teams.
Two weeks ago, the Quakers managed to pull off a 6-5 win over Rutgers in a CN8-televised contest on Franklin Field.
The game was as physical as they come, with both teams getting several push-and-shove fouls, as well as a few green and yellow cards.
Today's game will likely be of a similar nature.
And while the two teams differ greatly in their styles of play, they do have several things in common.
Both Penn and Temple are second-tier Division I teams -- lacrosse programs that challenge schools in the top 20, but have a hard time leaving with a victory.
"Neither of us have a real big win in the top 20, so we both need to beat each other," Brower said.
Six of the Quakers' seven losses this season have been against top 20 teams, whereas all five Owls losses have been against the nation's best.
In order to hand Temple its first non-top 20 loss of the season, Penn will need to shut down the Owls' midfield.
Temple's biggest threats are juniors Jen Jefferson and Robin Keevan. Both have great moves in one-on-one situations and will cause havoc on the scoreboard if Penn's defenders do not get to the doubles early.
But if the Quakers complete the doubles, and their aggressive side comes out to play, Weinstein may find herself taking pictures of the scoreboard one more time.
(04/25/01 9:00am)
Leaving home for the first time is always tough.
But the Penn women's crew team was not stifled by new waters last weekend. The Quakers finished second out of three teams for the third meet in a row on the Raritan River in New Brunswick, N.J.
Early Saturday morning, the Quakers (5-3, 2-1 Ivy League) came up short against Rutgers (4-3), but were able to edge out Ancient Eight rival Cornell (1-7, 0-3).
In the varsity eight race, the Scarlet Knights came in first at 6:35.16, while Penn was clocked at 6:45.12 and the Big Red at 6:48.01.
The results of the race -- which was largely unaffected by wind or rough waters -- were very similar to those of a Penn-hosted meet a week ago.
In that race for the Orange Challenge Cup on the Schuylkill River, No. 7 Syracuse won with a time of 6:26.3, several lengths ahead of the second and third place teams.
The Quakers finished in a time of 6:34.9, while Northeastern took third in 6:35.9.
The race on the Raritan was also similar to the April 14 meet in that the results were largely expected.
Rutgers' record is very misleading, as its losses have largely been to tougher teams in the crew circuit.
Cornell, on the other hand, has been struggling all season, pulling out its only win against George Washington in its season opener.
The Big Red did show depth this weekend, however, as its boats won four of the six races.
Most notably, Cornell took both novice eight races by significant margins, indicating that it may give perennial Ivy League favorites Brown and Princeton a little competition in future years.
This possibility is furthered by the fact that both of Cornell's novice eight boats finished ahead of its second varsity eight boat.
Penn's lone win of the day came in the varsity four "A" race, and it came in at a time of 7:38.02. The Quakers used a combination of four novice members to pull out the win.
Cornell -- using its spring four team -- finished four seconds behind, and Rutgers' non-sprint boat brought up the rear at 7:49.58.
After three consecutive second- place finishes, the Quakers are hoping that in this coming weekend they will be able to duplicate their season-opening, first-place finish in which they defeated Navy and Brown.
Penn's meet this weekend was originally scheduled to take place on the Schuylkill.
Instead, the Quakers will return to the Garden State to face Dartmouth and Princeton in the Award Plaque race.
The varsity boats will compete on the FISA World Cup course in Mercer, N.J., while the lower boats race on Lake Carnegie.
This will be Penn's final meet in preparation for the 27th annual Eastern Association of Women's Rowing Colleges Championship Regatta, to be held on May 13.
(04/18/01 9:00am)
When Penn women's lacrosse coach Karin Brower said, "It's going to be an uphill battle from here," after her team defeated Rutgers a week ago, she wasn't kidding.
No. 10 Dartmouth handed the Quakers a 14-4 loss last Friday, snapping Penn's four-game winning streak.
The loss left the Red and Blue still searching for their first win against a top-20 team this season.
Barring a move in the standings by Brown, Temple or American -- three of the four remaining teams on the Quakers' schedule -- this will be Penn's last chance to take down a top-ranked team.
Tonight at 7 p.m., the Quakers (6-6, 2-3 Ivy League) will take on perennial Ivy powerhouse and national No. 3 Princeton (10-1, 4-0) on Franklin Field.
The Tigers, who haven't lost since March 11, are riding a nine-game winning streak and are a perfect 5-0 on the road.
During the five-week span, Princeton has recorded five wins against top 20 teams, including victories over No. 4 Duke, No. 7 Yale and No. 9 Virginia.
Against Ivy League teams, the Tigers have achieved their 4-0 record by decimating opponents by an average of 7.25 goals per game.
And the team from Old Nassau has a little extra incentive to keep its perfect Ivy mark. A win tonight over the Quakers and a win against Dartmouth on Saturday would guarantee the Tigers the 2001 Ivy League title, unseating Dartmouth from the top spot for the first time since 1996.
The Quakers, too, have incentive to play well.
"It's a good opportunity for us to finish the highest we have in a really long time in the Ivy League," Penn senior defender Amy Weinstein said of her team, which hasn't won three league games in a season since 1996.
The first step for the Quakers tonight will be shutting down Princeton's high-octane offense. "Everyone on their team is capable of putting up big numbers," Weinstein said. "So all of us just need to be really up for the game and not take anything too lightly."
The Tigers offense, which has yet to score less than nine goals in any game this season, is led by two juniors -- Lauren Simone and Kim Smith.
Simone, a second-team all-American and first-team regional all-American during her sophomore campaign, was tied for first on her team in points with 57 last season.
A native of Delran, N.J., Simone is especially dangerous in one-on-one situations and will make the Quakers pay -- in the same way that Dartmouth attackers did -- if they fail to double early.
"We did a really good job [against Dartmouth] of being aware of where we needed to be," Weinstein said. "The problem was we didn't help out and get to the doubles early enough."
Throughout the entire season, failure to double in the midfield has been one of Penn's biggest technical problems.
"Technically, the biggest thing we need to focus on is leaving for those doubles earlier on and stopping those challenges before they get too close to the goal," Weinstein said.
Smith -- the other half of Princeton's dynamic duo -- also tallied 57 points last season. The two-time Ivy League Player of the Week has been on fire lately, scoring 15 goals in her last four games.
But if the Quakers can find the intensity and tactical flawlessness that they had during their four-game winning streak, perhaps tonight's spectators -- and the rest of the lacrosse world -- will be in for a surprise.
"If we win [against Princeton], we're going to rock the lacrosse world," Christy Bennett said.
(04/11/01 9:00am)
Sometimes, finesse and grace just don't cut it.
In a contest as physical as they come, the Penn women's lacrosse team (6-5) came away with a 6-5 victory over Rutgers (4-7) on Franklin Field yesterday.
"[Rutgers is] usually a very physical team, and we knew that going in," Penn coach Karin Brower said. "We told our team that we have to be just as physical back. There was a lot pushing, and I think it was a little violent at times, but we expected that."
The flow of the game was severely hampered by the excessive number of fouls called against both teams.
Aside from the occasional push-and-shove fouls, Penn was given one yellow card and one green card, while Rutgers was issued three and one, respectively.
The contact-oriented play of Rutgers would hurt the Scarlet Knights late in the game.
With 10 minutes left in the second half, Rutgers defender Kristin Checksfield was issued a yellow card for pushing from behind.
Penn sophomore attacker Alison Polk-Williams took advantage of the free position and hurled an eight-meter shot past Rutgers goalie Lauren Gulotta to put her team up 6-4.
The insurance score would prove to be important, as Rutgers attacker Kate Slotman found the back of the net just 45 seconds later to make it a one-goal game again.
Neither team was able to generate any significant scoring opportunities for several minutes, as both Penn and Rutgers suffered from a lack of ball control.
With the clock winding down and Penn playing a lacrosse version of Dean Smith's "four corners offense," it looked as if the Scarlet Knights had no chance of forcing the game into overtime.
But the composure of the Quakers fell apart, as they turned the ball over with 55 seconds left.
The Scarlet Knights fell short in their final push, however. An offensive foul against Rutgers attacker Claire Grooms put the ball, and the game, firmly back in the hands of the Quakers.
"One of our problems is having composure under pressure," Brower said. "I was frustrated [with the turnover]. We're young, and not used to being in that situation. We lucked out on that charge at the end."
The same parity that Penn and Rutgers showed toward the end of the game was reflected in its opening minutes. Rutgers struck first, as Grooms scored on an eight-meter shot 10 minutes into the game.
The Quakers then scored just 37 seconds later, when sophomore midfielder Whitney Horton took a great pass from sophomore attacker Jayme Munnelly and scored.
The two would connect again 12 minutes later on the exact same play.
"Whitney's a very consistent player," Munnelly said. "We've been working a lot on those picks. If you can get it to her, she'll put it in the net."
Horton modestly credits her teammates for the two goals she scored last night.
"My teammates set really good picks for me, and Jayme gave me some really nice feeds, so I credit them for those [goals]," Horton said.
At the other end of the field, the Quakers defense and goaltending was again phenomenal.
In the center is sophomore goalkeeper Alaina Harper, who has given up just 5.25 goals per game during the Quakers current four-game winning streak.
"Overall, the defense is communicating better, which makes my job a lot easier," Harper said. "The attack is also really pushing me and the rest of the goalies in practice, which helps and translates into the games."
Brower also credits the defense with helping Harper protect the net.
"Our defense is not allowing as many good-angle shots and one-on-ones," Brower said. "We're collapsing and having a lot of help on defense."
The win carried a little extra significance, as it was Penn's first defeat of Rutgers in five attempts.
In addition, the Quakers victory was televised on regional television station CN8.
"It was a really big game for us," said Horton, who was interviewed by the CN8 sports news crew after the game. "Being on TV, and then winning a close game like that, it was really awesome for us."
(04/10/01 9:00am)
There's no better time than the present for the Penn women's lacrosse team to be on television.
After opening the season with a mediocre 2-5 record, the Quakers have bounced back to win three straight. And in those three wins, the Red and Blue have outscored their opponents, 38-16.
Now on a roll and finally able to score, Penn (5-5) takes on Rutgers (4-6) in a CN8-televised contest at 7 p.m. on Franklin Field tonight.
Penn junior co-captain Traci Marabella attributes the recent flurry of offense to good off-the-field team unity.
"I think we've been doing a really good job of getting together outside of lacrosse," Marabella said. "We all get along really well, and we have fun together. I think that's starting to translate onto the field."
Penn sophomore Crissy Book believes the wins are also a result of better execution.
"[We've had] good movement on attack and good passes," Book said. "[Another key is] being intense and not being afraid to shoot."
And although two wins against Columbia and Monmouth aren't much to brag about, Saturday's 13-8 defeat of Harvard certainly is.
It was the first time since 1998 the Quakers had beaten an Ivy League team besides Columbia.
"The win against Harvard was huge," Marabella said. "It gives us a lot of confidence. Granted we haven't had a win against a top-20 team yet, but I think [beating] Harvard was the next best thing."
With the win over Harvard, Penn improved to 2-2 in the Ivy League and greatly increased its chances of finishing in sixth place or better for the first time in three years.
And with its game tonight against Rutgers on the tube, Penn has a little extra incentive to perform well.
"It's probably [being televised] because it's a regional game and it's a regional TV station," Marabella said. "I know personally I'm so excited. That'll definitely be an extra motivator in the back of my head knowing that I'll be on TV."
Not that the Quakers don't have plenty of motivation without the distraction of TV.
In the four times these two teams have met, Penn has yet to record a victory.
The most recent Rutgers defeat of Penn was a 15-11 decision at Yurcak Field in Piscataway, N.J., last season.
In that contest, Rutgers took a 13-5 lead into halftime.
But just as history did not repeat itself against Harvard, the Quakers are hoping for a similar turning of the tide against the Scarlet Knights.
"We're really excited to play Rutgers," Book said. "It was a tough loss last year, but if we play like we've been playing, I feel like we can beat any team by 10 goals."
Rutgers has had an up-and-down season. In their four wins, the Scarlet Knights have outscored their opponents by an average margin of 11.75 goals.
But in their six losses, they have been outscored by 7.5 goals per game.
Thus, spectators at tonight's game should not expect a game with lots of lead changes and ties.
Instead, the game's outcome will depend primarily on whether or not Penn is able to execute as effectively as it has in the past two weeks.
"I don't think they're going to be taking us lightly because they haven't really been on top of their game," Marabella said. "I'm sure they think they can come out here, be really physical and beat the crap out of us.
"Hopefully we're not going to let them."
(04/09/01 9:00am)
There's only one way to beat a team with one of the top-ranked defenses in the nation.
And that's to play some stellar defense of your own.
The Penn men's lacrosse team (4-4, 2-3 Ivy League) did just that on Saturday, outlasting Dartmouth (3-4, 0-1), 7-4, on Franklin Field.
As expected, the Big Green were impressive in protecting their end of the field.
Going into the game, Dartmouth was giving up an average of 6.67 goals per game - the fourth-least in the nation.
A big part of the Big Green defense is sophomore goalie Mike Gault, who is arguably one of the best in the Ivy League at his position.
"He's pretty much been the best player on our team all year," Dartmouth assistant coach Patrick Finn said. "This game is just a coming-out party for people to see how good he is."
Even Penn coach Marc van Arsdale was impressed with Gault's play in the net.
"Their goalie, I don't know how many saves he had, but he was on fire," van Arsdale said.
Gault gave up just seven goals on 34 shots, posting a remarkable .794 save percentage.
But Penn goalkeeper Ryan Kelly was equally impressive. The sophomore netminder stopped 75 percent of Dartmouth's shots en route to leading his team to victory.
Kelly and the Quakers defense held Dartmouth five goals below their season average.
"We just played sound defense, talking through what we wanted to do and calling out our first and second sides," Penn junior defender Read Mortimer said. "We did what we've been talking about all week - just playing hard. Ryan also came up huge in goal when we needed him to."
Scoring began just 50 seconds into the opening quarter, as Dartmouth senior Georges Dyer hurled a pass from sophomore Scott Roslyn past Kelly.
The Quakers responded later in the first quarter, as sophomore Scott Solow capitalized on a cross-checking penalty against Dartmouth senior Scott Kinum. Solow netted the first of his three goals on the day to tie the game at one.
Penn scored first in the second quarter, as Solow put in his second of the game.
Dartmouth then regained the momentum and went on to score three unanswered goals, taking advantage of Penn's poor weak-side coverage.v
The Quakers were able to score once more before the close of the second quarter.
Down 4-3 at halftime, Penn assistant coach Mike Murphy decided to make some defensive changes in an attempt to rectify the mistakes his team made in the first half.
The changes proved to be beneficial, as Penn shut out the Big Green in the second half.
"Coach Murphy is one of the best defensive coaches around," Finn said. "We couldn't seem to find our rhythm once they made some adjustments on stuff we did in the first half."
While Dartmouth's offense came to a crashing halt, the Quakers offense continued to generate scoring opportunities.
A big part in the offense on Saturday was midfield transition. After the Penn defense forced a turnover, good off-the-ball movement led to several four-on-three breakaways.
"Our middies were working really hard to pick up the ground balls, and then they just took off," Solow said.
Van Arsdale especially noted the effort of sophomore Alex Kopicki, one of the fastest men on the team.v
"We put [Kopicki] on the field so that if we turn the ball around, we can create some good transition going up the field."
Penn is now a win against Brown away from posting its first-ever .500 Ivy season.
(04/06/01 9:00am)
There are some experiences that no sports team would ever want to endure -- especially not a second time.
For the Penn women's lacrosse team, getting outscored 97-47 during a six-game losing streak last year would be one of those experiences.
After standing 5-2 with seven games remaining, the Quakers ended their 2000 campaign at 6-8 overall and 1-6 in the Ivy League, just one game ahead of perennial Ivy League cellar-dweller Columbia.
But the Red and Blue are getting a second chance.
Penn will face the same six teams -- Harvard, Rutgers, Dartmouth, Princeton, Brown and Temple -- in the exact same order this season.
Tomorrow at 1 p.m. in Cambridge, Mass., the return trek down this disappointment-filled road will begin for the Quakers (4-5, 1-2 Ivy League), as they attempt to avenge their 11-9 loss last season to the Crimson (5-3, 0-2).
Penn coach Karin Brower welcomes the challenge.
"It's good to end with the best [competition]," Brower said. "It's a hard road coming up, but we'd rather see [No. 3] Princeton and [No. 11] Dartmouth at the end than in the beginning."
The Quakers will face a Harvard team that has played extremely well as of late. In their last three games, the unranked Crimson have pulled out one-goal overtime victories over No. 7 Boston and No. 20 Stanford and were just one goal short of pulling off yet another upset against No. 8 Yale.
The Quakers' key to success against the red-hot Crimson will be getting off to a good start.
"[We need to] come out intense in the first half because we're usually flat when we come out," Penn sophomore midfielder Kate Murray said. "That leads to bad second halves and bad next practices."
Sophomore attacker Alison Polk-Williams agreed with her teammate.
"The bottom line is we need to come out hard right away, get on their heels and catch them off guard early," Polk-Williams said.
However, getting on the scoreboard early will not be an easy task.
Harvard's defense has many veteran players and is anchored by co-captain Jeanne Ficociello and fellow senior Becca Brown.
The team's only two seniors have led a very stingy Crimson defense that has given up double-digit goals in just three outings this year.
To stand a chance against the Crimson, the Quakers will need to do a good job executing their attack strategies.
"We've been working on our attack a lot," Polk-Williams said. "We've been trying to get more quality shots off. The last two games [against Columbia and Monmouth] have been pretty high-scoring, so hopefully that is indicative of how we've improved."
The match against the Crimson also promises to be high-scoring if Harvard junior attacker Alli Harper gets a lot of touches. The Crimson co-captain led her team in scoring during her freshman year, when she put up 30 goals and three assists.
Last year, Harper was sidelined for most of the season due to injury. But this season, she has returned to her freshman form, hurling lacrosse balls into the back of the nets of her opponents.
"Alli Harper is really good," Brower said. "She scores around six goals for them a game. And we can't foul her because she has a great eight-meter shot. So we have to try not to foul her but still key in on her."
In spite of all of Harvard's offensive and defensive weapons, Brower still believes the outcome of the game is up to her team.
"Right now we are the underdog against them because Penn hasn't beaten Harvard in a long time," Brower said. "In everything they do, Harvard kids think they're better than you. And they're going to come on with confidence.
"But how the game ends will depend on how we take the field."
(03/30/01 10:00am)
It's one thing if a team is struggling with the technical aspects of a sport. These types of problems can be corrected.
But it's an entirely different story if the problems are with intensity, desire and the other mental aspects of the game.
That's where the Penn women's lacrosse team stands right now as it approaches the heart of its 2001 campaign.
Since the beginning of the season, the Quakers knew that in order to be successful, they would have to go out every day and practice with fire and intensity.
But with seven games gone and the Quakers sitting three games below .500, one can't help but think that something has gone awry.
"[The coaching staff] has been trying the whole year to get them to understand how to work hard," Penn coach Karin Brower said. "If you work hard in practice, then you'll play hard in the game. Unfortunately, we haven't been so successful at that."
Fortunately for Penn (2-5, 0-2 Ivy League), its next game should be a confidence builder, as the Quakers take on Columbia (1-6, 0-3) at 7 p.m. tonight at Wien Stadium in New York.
Columbia has been struggling since the inception of its women's lacrosse program four years ago, posting a 22-44 overall record. And the Lions have yet to win an Ivy League contest in 24 attempts.
Columbia has kept Penn out of the Ivy League cellar for the past two years, as the Quakers' only Ivy League wins during the 1999 and 2000 seasons came against the Lions.
Things haven't been improving for Columbia this season, either. The Lions -- losers of their last six -- were decimated in their last two games. They dropped a 19-5 decision to Dartmouth five days ago and lost, 18-3, to Princeton on Tuesday.
But even given Columbia's recent string of poor performances, Brower isn't celebrating a Red and Blue victory just yet.
"I'm not really expecting to beat anybody with the way things are going [for us this season]," Brower said. "I just want us to play our game and do what we have been doing in practice for the last couple of days."
Brower will be looking for her upperclassmen to make sure the younger players are fully motivated and ready to play.
"We're trying to lead by example and pick up our own performance and intensity," Penn junior co-captain Traci Marabella said. "Hopefully, the [younger players] will emulate us."
While Penn relies on experience, the Lions will be looking to a pair of young attackers -- sophomore Meredith Corkery and freshman Adie Moll -- to put some points on the scoreboard.
Corkery has 14 goals and three assists on the season, while Moll is leading her team with 20 points on 15 goals and five assists.
But Columbia's offensive attack pales in comparison to that of Monmouth. Penn will host the Hawks (2-3) at 1 p.m. on Franklin Field on Sunday.
Monmouth's attack is led by senior midfielder Heather Bryan. The 2000 Northeast Conference Player of the Year and 1998 NEC Rookie of the Year led her team last season with 60 goals.
Her stellar play earned her 2000 third team All-American status and a selection to the 2001 preseason second team All-American squad by CollegeLacrosseUSA.com.
Penn senior defender Amy Weinstein is not worried about defending the All-American, though.
"All of us on defense are capable of playing against some top players that like to go to goal," Weinstein said. "Everyone's just got to play heads up. If she drives in 60 times, we'll all be ready to help. We just need to play good team defense and it shouldn't be a problem."
While Bryan is looking to put a couple of balls in the back of the net, Monmouth junior goalkeeper Stacy Makris will be looking to keep them out of the Hawks' end.
In just two seasons, the 1999 NEC Rookie of the Year has taken over Monmouth's record books, setting single-season records in save percentage and goals-against average.
With Makris in the opposing net, the Quakers will have to work even harder to up their recently lagging goal production.
"We've been working on off-ball movement on the attack," Marabella said. "We're just standing there, and it kills our attack. We've been working on setting picks and looking for the back doors. Hopefully we'll be able to transfer that into the games."
(03/28/01 10:00am)
After a tough 10-5 loss to Cornell last weekend, the Penn women's lacrosse team was hoping to bounce back with a victory over Lafayette, a team the Quakers beat last year.
But the Leopards refused to bow to history yesterday, defeating Penn, 9-6, on Metzgar Fields in Easton, Pa. The Quakers have now dropped four of their last five games.
From the start, the Quakers lacked the confidence necessary to win.
"I think pretty much the whole game we fell apart," Penn sophomore defender Christy Bennett said. "I think we took the field with the wrong attitude. It wasn't a good start right from warmups, and it lasted all the way through."
Lafayette struck first, taking the lead in the early going off a goal by attacker Heather McClelland, the team's leading scorer.
The Quakers were able to bounce back, however, as junior midfielder Traci Marabella scored just three minutes later.
After another Penn goal, Lafayette would score four straight to obtain a 5-2 lead. The score then see-sawed again, as the Quakers scored three unanswered goals to close out the half and tie the game at five.
"We were playing scared at first and we didn't come out like we wanted to win," Bennett said. "They surprised us when they scored a couple, and so in reaction to that, we felt like we needed to fight back."
While Penn tried to put up a fight, Lafayette slowly began to pull away after the break. The Leopards' defense became increasingly stingy, allowing few scoring opportunities and giving up just one goal in the second stanza.
The Quakers also seemed to have problems moving without the ball and setting up for a scoring chance.
"We've been practicing an attack that was working while we were practicing, but when we got in the game, we didn't do it," Book said. "We weren't moving."
Penn's offensive struggles led to sloppy play on both sides of the field.
"I think we were getting frustrated," Book said. "We were making dumb fouls."
And Lafayette's rejuvenated defense was combined with continued offensive success for the Leopards.
Lafayette put four more in the back of the net, including two by McClelland to give her four goals on the day. The Lafayette junior out of Springfield, Va., now has 26 goals in just seven games.
"It seems like we just gave up," Book said. "We weren't hustling and we lost our confidence."
Bennett agrees, adding her disappointment with the team's performance in all aspects of the game.
"We never got a good midfield transition going; we never got a decent attack running; we weren't holding on defense. We just weren't ready to play today," Bennett said.
The Coatsville, Pa., native claims that Penn's problems stem from a lack of focus on the non-physical aspect of lacrosse.
"It all starts mentally. The mental breakdowns lead to the technical and tactical breakdowns," Bennett said. "We have a very talented team and great skills, it's just not working out because we're not getting our heads into it the way we should."
Penn's second-half performance against Lafayette yesterday almost mirrored Villanova's overtime performance against the Quakers just a week ago.
After the Wildcats gave up a goal late in the first extra period, the whole squad fell apart. Penn would go on to add four more goals in the six minutes of overtime.
The Quakers continue to struggle with the problem of maintaining intensity for a full 60 minutes, as was the case against Villanova.
"It's not that we can't do the [technical] things, because we can do them," Book said. "It's just being intense, and also knowing what to do [on the field]."
While last year's squad seemed to have problems with lack of leadership and intensity during practice, this year's Quakers are having problems translating their efforts in practice into on-the-field success.
"We just need to do what we've been doing the last three days," Book said. "We've had good practices -- we just didn't come out and play the game like we've been practicing."
(03/22/01 10:00am)
Records can be deceiving. At least, that's what fans of the Penn women's lacrosse team are hoping.
Tomorrow, the sub-.500 Quakers will take on undefeated No. 14 Cornell at 7 p.m. on Franklin Field.
Penn coach Karin Brower has a good deal of respect for the Big Red (4-0, 1-0 Ivy League).
"They're definitely a strong team, and they have great speed," Brower said.
In its four victories so far this season, Cornell has disposed of some pretty tough competition, including No. 13 Penn State.
The Big Red have also beaten Rutgers and Vanderbilt, two teams that were ranked in the top 20 preseason poll.
Penn (2-3, 0-1 Ivy League), on the other hand, has come up short three times against top 20 opponents.
Even so, the Quakers aren't hanging their heads.
"The bottom line is we need to have hard, intense practices," Brower said. "We need to hold each other accountable for things."
To have a shot against the Big Red, the Quakers must stop Cornell's fierce offensive threesome of midfielder Jaimee Reynolds and attackers Lori Wohlschlegel and Ginny Miles.
The three players combined for 120 goals and 48 assists last season. Wohlschlegel's 62 points on 39 goals and 23 assists was a Cornell school-record.
And this season, the three juniors are picking up right where they left off. In a 15-6 massacre of Rutgers, Reynolds scored six goals, while Miles added four. And in leading her team to a 12-5 victory over Columbia, Wohlschlegel had a hat trick.
To shut down Cornell's offensive attack, the Quakers will first try to break down the speedy Cornell midfield. This task is assigned to junior Traci Marabella and sophomores Whitney Horton, Crissy Book and Kate Murray.
"Doubling in the midfield [will be important] because Cornell is quick with transition," Murray said. "[We have to] hold the doubles and run our offense better."
Keeping up with Cornell's midfield should generate turnovers and give attackers Jenny Hartman and Jayme Munnelly several scoring opportunities.
Munnelly is coming off her best game of the season. Last Tuesday, the Setauket, N.Y., native led her team with six points on two goals and four assists.
"For me to play well, I have to just go out there and hustle," Munnelly said. "I'm more of a scrappy player than graceful, so my best performances come when I'm just kind of mad, really."
Penn's defense, led by senior co-captain Amy Weinstein, must also be tough in the passing lanes to prevent Cornell from putting too many points on the scoreboard.
"I think the intensity on defense has definitely gotten better," Weinstein said. "We just need to be more prepared for certain plays, and see the whole field and be able to help from far away."
And, as is the case for all teams, the Quakers must feed off each other's energy levels.
"We're really trying to work together more as a team," Munnelly said. "We really want to step up the intensity so we can play an entire game, not just an overtime or a half like we have been."
By picking up their intensity on the field, the Quakers just might be able to walk away with their first victory over a ranked opponent this season.
(03/22/01 10:00am)
Records can be deceiving. At least, that's what fans of the Penn women's lacrosse team are hoping.
Tomorrow, the sub-.500 Quakers will take on undefeated No. 14 Cornell at 7 p.m. on Franklin Field.
Penn coach Karin Brower has a good deal of respect for the Big Red (4-0, 1-0 Ivy League).
"They're definitely a strong team, and they have great speed," Brower said.
In its four victories so far this season, Cornell has disposed of some pretty tough competition, including No. 13 Penn State.
The Big Red have also beaten Rutgers and Vanderbilt, two teams that were ranked in the top 20 preseason poll.
Penn (2-3, 0-1 Ivy League), on the other hand, has come up short three times against top 20 opponents.
Even so, the Quakers aren't hanging their heads.
"The bottom line is we need to have hard, intense practices," Brower said. "We need to hold each other accountable for things."
To have a shot against the Big Red, the Quakers must stop Cornell's fierce offensive threesome of midfielder Jaimee Reynolds and attackers Lori Wohlschlegel and Ginny Miles.
The three players combined for 120 goals and 48 assists last season. Wohlschlegel's 62 points on 39 goals and 23 assists was a Cornell school-record.
And this season, the three juniors are picking up right where they left off. In a 15-6 massacre of Rutgers, Reynolds scored six goals, while Miles added four. And in leading her team to a 12-5 victory over Columbia, Wohlschlegel had a hat trick.
To shut down Cornell's offensive attack, the Quakers will first try to break down the speedy Cornell midfield. This task is assigned to junior Traci Marabella and sophomores Whitney Horton, Crissy Book and Kate Murray.
"Doubling in the midfield [will be important] because Cornell is quick with transition," Murray said. "[We have to] hold the doubles and run our offense better."
Keeping up with Cornell's midfield should generate turnovers and give attackers Jenny Hartman and Jayme Munnelly several scoring opportunities.
Munnelly is coming off her best game of the season. Last Tuesday, the Setauket, N.Y., native led her team with six points on two goals and four assists.
"For me to play well, I have to just go out there and hustle," Munnelly said. "I'm more of a scrappy player than graceful, so my best performances come when I'm just kind of mad, really."
Penn's defense, led by senior co-captain Amy Weinstein, must also be tough in the passing lanes to prevent Cornell from putting too many points on the scoreboard.
"I think the intensity on defense has definitely gotten better," Weinstein said. "We just need to be more prepared for certain plays, and see the whole field and be able to help from far away."
And, as is the case for all teams, the Quakers must feed off each other's energy levels.
"We're really trying to work together more as a team," Munnelly said. "We really want to step up the intensity so we can play an entire game, not just an overtime or a half like we have been."
By picking up their intensity on the field, the Quakers just might be able to walk away with their first victory over a ranked opponent this season.
(03/21/01 10:00am)
After being blown out last weekend in its Ivy League opener against Yale, the Penn women's lacrosse team was looking for a little redemption.
It didn't come easily, but the Quakers found it.
Penn left Franklin Field yesterday with an 11-6 overtime victory over Villanova.
The Quakers' (2-3) offense looked rusty in the opening minutes of the game. Villanova (1-4) controlled the tempo, keeping the Red and Blue on their heels defensively.
But with good coverage of the passing lanes, the Quakers forced turnovers and dominated the pace for the remainder of the half.
Penn drew first blood when junior attacker Jenny Hartman made a nice spin move past a Villanova defender and scored her seventh goal of the season.
The Quakers were never able to build a substantial lead, however, as the Wildcats matched them goal for goal.
At the end of the half, the Quakers held a tenuous 3-2 advantage, despite having many more scoring opportunities than Villanova.
After the break, the Wildcats came out much more aggressively on defense.
"Our defense looked really good today," Villanova coach Shannon O'Neil said. "They were conservative, but they were coming up with the ball without fouling, which really helps us a lot."
Villanova junior Cecily Pierce anchored her team's comeback. With excellent stick control, the midfielder was able to weave in and out of Penn's defense with relative ease.
Pierce scored three of her four goals in the second half, including the one that gave her team its only lead at 5-4 with 12 minutes remaining.
But the Quakers had an answer to Pierce in sophomore attacker Jayme Munnelly, who played her best game all season.
"Jayme played heads up, got a lot of ground balls and had some great challenges," Penn coach Karin Brower said.
Munnelly scored the next two Penn goals on a nice spin move and a wrap-around, putting her team up, 6-5, with just two minutes left in the game.
But just when the Quakers appeared to have the game locked up, a crucial Penn turnover with 55 seconds left put the ball in Pierce's stick once again.
The 'Nova midfielder then drove in aggressively toward the net and scored with 39 ticks left on the clock, knotting the game at six apiece.
As regulation time expired, the game was still tied. But Brower had complete faith that her team could pull it out in overtime.
"I just told them, 'We're a better team than them. We have to go out there, work hard, and win the game,'" Brower said.
The coach's words sparked an offensive onslaught. Penn sophomore midfielder Kate Murray scored two goals in a span of 22 seconds to put her team up, 8-6, at the end of the first extra period.
After that, the Wildcats pretty much gave up.
"We folded," O'Neil said. "They got up one goal, and I think our girls pretty much figured it was over at that point."
The Quakers would find the back of the net three more times during the second overtime period.
Munnelly quadrupled her season point total yesterday, leading all scorers with six points.
Murray also had a stellar performance, scoring four goals and adding one assist.
(03/09/01 10:00am)
Next week, many sports fans will have their eyes glued to their televisions, looking for the No. 16 seed from some no-name conference to upset Stanford in the first round of March Madness.
But for five members of the Penn wrestling team, attention will be elsewhere.
Mike Fickell, Tim Ortman, Joe Henson, Yoshi Nakamura and Mason Lenhard will be donning the Red and Blue at wrestling's own version of "The Big Dance" -- the National Wrestling Championships.
On Tuesday, these five Quakers will fly to the University of Iowa for the culminating tournament of the 2000-2001 wrestling season in hopes of repeating last year's top 10 team finish.
And while Penn coach Roger Reina thinks his wrestlers are a little bit nervous, he looks at it positively.
"Pressure makes diamonds, doesn't it?" Reina said. "Adrenaline is a physical reaction to stress; it's natural and needed for peak performance.
"I like the saying, 'Everyone has butterflies going into competition. Just make sure yours are flying in formation.'"
Reina has spent the last two weeks making sure that his wrestlers' butterflies are right where they should be.
"Our physical preparation is largely complete at this point, and I'm 100 percent confident that we are peaking at the right time," Reina said. "Mental, technical and tactical preparations can be honed now, and that's more of our focus."
Of the five Penn grapplers going to Iowa, perhaps the most focused is Nakamura.
The 2001 Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association champion at 157 pounds, Nakamura proved last weekend that he hasn't lost a step since his season-ending injury early last year.
And he knows exactly what he wants out of the upcoming tournament.
"I'm fully confident in my ability," Nakamura said. "I know what I need to do to be a national champion.
"I've trained hard and I've trained smart. The coaches have guided me along the entire season and prepared me for this moment, and I'm ready for it."
Henson, the only Penn junior who qualified for Nationals, is just as confident as Nakamura.
"It's my third time there, and I know what to expect," Henson said. "I have confidence in everything we've done this year."
The Nebraska transfer, who wrestles at 149 for the Quakers, should have a good shot at All-American status this year.
But the two grapplers who probably want to be All-Americans more than anyone else are Fickell and Ortman.
As seniors, this will be Fickell and Ortman's last shot at the coveted distinction.
Fickell -- the Quakers' wrestler at 197 -- will be chasing something else as well at this tournament.
With one more pin, Fickell will tie Rick Springman's school record for most falls in a season (11).
Ortman, who came away with his first EIWA title last weekend, has wrestled impressively as of late and has the potential to surprise a lot of opponents at 165 pounds.
Lenhard, the lightest and youngest of the five heading to the Midwest, will also be vying for All-American honors.
"If I upset a few opponents, wrestle well and everything goes my way, I think I can be an All-American," the 125-pounder said.
If these five Quakers are able to implement their coach's strategy with confidence and focus, perhaps Penn -- a team that posted a 6-7 record and finished second at EIWAs last weekend -- might become the Cinderella team of the tournament once again.
(03/07/01 10:00am)
With the amount of youth present on the Penn women's lacrosse team, one might think that its 2001 season will be a rebuilding year.
But despite having only one senior and four juniors on a team of 25, the Quakers are very positive about their team potential this season.
"We believe we can beat every team we go up against," said Penn junior midfielder Emily Foote, also a Daily Pennsylvanian reporter. "Last year we just wanted to compete with [our opponents]. We didn't really believe we could win, and this year we do."
Foote will be one of five upperclassmen expected to lead this year's team.
The Ardmore, Pa., native played in 10 games last season. She scored on 40 percent of her shots and picked up 10 ground balls.
"I think leadership has always been a little bit difficult for us, because for some reason our upperclassmen have always been lacking," Foote said. Last year's squad only had four seniors.
Junior midfielder Traci Marabella, who was named to the 2001 preseason All-American team, is expected to lead the offense for the Quakers. Scoring 31 goals on 69 shots, Marabella was Penn's primary offensive threat last season.
But the Quakers are hoping to spread out the attack out a little more this year.
"I think we have more people who can shoot and be scoring threats," Penn coach Karin Brower said. "Last year it was pretty much Traci. This year we have a more well-rounded and versatile attack."
The task of balancing that attack will be left up to the team's nine sophomores -- most of whom had significant playing time last year.
Four key returning second-year starters for Penn are Crissy Book and Whitney Horton at midfield, Christy Bennett at defense and Kate Murray on the attack. Last year, the four combined to score 48 goals and pick up 118 ground balls. Their experience on the field should also benefit the incoming freshman class of 11 players.
"Our sophomore class is so strong," Foote said. "There's so many of them that their presence is felt as if they were upperclassmen."
Penn's lone senior, Amy Weinstein, will anchor the defense for the Quakers. Weinstein has started in all but two games during her last three years at Penn.
With goalkeeper Christian Stover not returning to the team, Penn's primary presence in the net has yet to be determined.
What has been determined, however, is what the team wants out of this upcoming season.
"We want to have a good team chemistry, because then everything will come together," Marabella said. "To be ranked in the top 20, to finish at least .500 in the Ivy League -- these are goals that are definitely attainable."
With all bases covered on paper, the final step is the Quakers implementing the strategies that have been developed.
"They're starting to see what is successful and what is not," Brower said. "They are more intense on the field. I think they see all that, now it's just a matter of executing correctly."
If the Quakers maintain the intensity they have developed in the preseason, when they went 2-2 in scrimmages against strong competition, they believe that they will surprise a number of teams and have little problem improving on their 6-8 overall and 1-6 Ivy League marks from last season.
"Our attitude and intensity are really strong this year," Weinstein said. "We finally truly believe we're going to be good."
The Quakers open their season today against William and Mary at 4 p.m. on Franklin Field.
(03/06/01 10:00am)
After the first day of the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association Championships, it looked as if the Penn wrestling team was in place to recapture the team title after a one-year hiatus.
The Quakers, however, came up a little short for the second straight year, as Harvard claimed its first-ever EIWA championship.
What's interesting, however, is that the narrow nine-point margin by which Harvard (123 points) ousted Penn (114) cannot be entirely attributed to the Quakers' achilles' heel -- bonus points.
Instead, Penn's problems this past weekend at the Palestra were mainly the result of sub-par performances in the consolation rounds.
"A big factor that kept us from winning the team title was the consolation semifinal round wasn't as strong as it needed to be," Penn coach Roger Reina said.
Of the four Penn wrestlers that reached the consolation semifinals, only junior Joe Henson was able to come away with a victory.
The other three wrestlers -- freshmen Mike Faust and Marcus Schontube and junior Josh Henson -- took fifth, sixth and sixth, respectively.
"I'm a little upset that I placed so low," Schontube said. "I came in and I thought I had a really good chance to make the finals."
Another contributing factor was the untimely loss of Penn freshman Doug McGraw two weeks ago when he reinjured his knee against Matt Goldstein of Lehigh.
*
Many Penn wrestling alumni returned to the Palestra to participate in the weekend festivities.
Making one of the longer treks was 1943 Penn graduate Dick DiBatista, a three-time NCAA wrestling champion.
"I came up from Florida just for [the EIWAs]," DiBatista said. "I enjoyed the activities very much, and I only wish that Penn could've won the thing."
Other notables included former EIWA champions Brett and Clint Matter, Andrei Rodzianko and Brandon Slay, all of whom presented trophies on Sunday.
"It's been a lot of fun to see all my friends," Clint said. "It's a testimony to the close knit nature of the team. It's fun to see the tradition continue with so many great performances this year."
*
The most memorable match of the weekend was the championship bout at 133 pounds, which pitted Harvard senior No. 1 Matt Picarsic against Princeton junior No. 2 Juan Venturi.
With a minute remaining, Picarsic had a 7-5 lead on Venturi. The Princeton junior then went on an offensive flurry, scoring on two double-leg shots in 30 seconds to give him a one-point lead.
With the score standing at 9-8, Venturi had to decide between attempting to ride Picarsic out for the win or giving up a free escape and going for another takedown.
Venturi formed a triangle with his hands -- indicating that he opted for the latter route. The crowd roared in support of his choice.
"The fans like to see good wrestling and a lot of effort, and I think the Princeton kid did a great job coming from behind," Reina said.
Venturi did the unimaginable, scoring yet another takedown against the Crimson grappler, putting himself up 11-9.
Picarsic managed to escape, cutting the lead to one with just four seconds left.
Just as it appeared Venturi had the match locked up, he was hit with a very controversial stalling violation at the buzzer, tying the score at 11.
What ensued was two full minutes of booing and swearing from the Penn home crowd.
"I thought I had won when I was called back to wrestle the OT period," Venturi said afterwards. "The call was bad, but still, I should have cut Picarsic sooner and avoided the penalty point."
That penalty point proved to be devastating, as Picarsic would score a takedown 30 seconds into the overtime period to claim victory, 13-11.
Venturi received a standing ovation as he left the mat. He pumped his fist in the air in appreciation of the crowd's support and was unable to hold back the tears as his coach and assistant coach came to his side.
"Leaving the mat while the crowd was giving me a standing ovation was exciting, but very emotional," Venturi said.
Venturi was given another standing ovation later on as he received his runner-up trophy.
(03/02/01 10:00am)
Every Saturday and Sunday morning during the winter, the Palestra sits quiet and empty after featuring a men's or women's basketball game the night before. The hundreds of spectators who came to see Diana, Geoff or Lamar are no longer cheering from the hard metal seats.
But this weekend, they will have a reason to come back.
For the 13th time in the tournament's 97-year history, the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association Championships will be hosted by Penn at the Palestra this Saturday and Sunday.
With a revised scoring format that favors team balance, and a field of competitors that boasts unusual parity at several weight classes, this year's Easterns may be one of the most exciting and closest ever.
On paper, though, it doesn't seem like that should be the case.
On paper, No. 10 Lehigh is slated to rule over a wrestling association whose nine other teams aren't even ranked in the top 25 nationally.
On paper, the Engineers return three All-Americans while most teams don't even field one.
But paper doesn't count for much in the EIWA, as this year's dual-meet season has proven.
"Paper doesn't wrestle," Penn coach Roger Reina said. "Athletes have to go out there and wrestle."
This is especially true in the heavyweight division. Already this season, each wrestler in the top six has recorded a win against at least one wrestler above him in the rankings.
This includes Penn freshman Mike Faust, who has had a knack for pulling off upsets. The No. 5 seed has beaten both No. 3 Dawid Rechul of Harvard and No. 2 Bronson Lingamfelter of Brown.
If Faust wrestles to the best of his ability, he will have a good shot at making the tournament finals and earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships later this month in Iowa.
Another weight class where there is no clear favorite is the 197-pound division. Lehigh's Jon Trenge -- who is ranked No. 3 in the nation and was the dominant EIWA wrestler at 197 -- recently suffered a season-ending injury to his retina.
Penn senior Mike Fickell will take over the No. 1 seed by default. The Quakers' co-captain will face significant competition from, among others, No. 2 Corey Anderson of Cornell -- the defending EIWA champion who beat Fickell in the semifinals last year.
Fierce competition should also be seen this weekend at 157, which features three wrestlers ranked in the top 20 in the nation including Penn co-captain Yoshi Nakamura.
Nakamura was undefeated in NCAA-sanctioned bouts until current EIWA No. 1 Ryan Bernholz spoiled the Quakers junior's perfect season two weekends ago, winning 2-1 in a tiebreaker.
If these two grapplers can hold off No. 3 Leo Urbinelli of Cornell and No. 4 Max Odom of Harvard, a highly-anticipated rematch will ensue in the finals on Sunday night.
While the 157-pound, 197-pound and heavyweight divisions will be close, there are some that definitely should not be.
At 125, spectators should expect Penn freshman Mason Lenhard to claim the title. Looking very strong in recent matches, the Quakers' leader in takedowns this season should definitely earn bonus points for Penn this weekend.
Freshman Jeff Eveleth will wrestle at 133 for the Quakers. Ranked No. 3 in the EIWA, Eveleth will need to pull off an upset over No. 2 Juan Venturi of Princeton, who won 7-3 the last time the pair met, to get to the finals. No. 1 Matt Picarsic of Harvard is expected to meet Venturi or Eveleth in the finals.
At 141, the Quakers will be without Doug McGraw, who reinjured his knee against Lehigh two weeks ago. McGraw's replacement will be freshman Kyle Bernholz, who is Penn's only unseeded wrestler this weekend.
Joe and Josh Henson will represent Penn at 149 and 174, respectively. The identical twins are both ranked No. 3 in their respective weight classes and will have to win tough bouts to get to the finals.
At both weight classes, a wrestler ranked in the top five nationally -- No. 4 Dave Esposito of Lehigh at 149 and No. 3 Maurice Worthy of Army at 174 -- stands in the way of a title.
Senior Tim Ortman will wrestle for the Quakers at 165. The nation's No. 20 at this weight has been wrestling at his best over the past few weeks, and may contend for the title if he continues to do so.
At 184, the Quakers will use freshman Marcus Schontube, who has exceeded expectations and could be dangerous if his opponents come in overconfident.
In addition to having NCAA qualifiers, Reina will also be looking for his team to recapture the EIWA team title. The Quakers had won four straight before Lehigh snapped their streak last year.
Reina has clearly defined his goals to his team.
"The real factors for us are three-fold," Reina said. "We're going to need to upset some opponents, score bonus points and wrestle with a lot of enthusiasm and tenacity in the consolation rounds."
The Quakers have looked strong in recent matches. With only Easterns and Nationals remaining on the schedule, the Red and Blue appear to be peaking at the right time.
Now it's just a matter of finally putting into practice the team mentality that Reina has emphasized all season.
(03/02/01 10:00am)
In most sports, a difference of six inches and 95 pounds between two men places them in vastly different situations.
But not in wrestling.
Penn freshmen Mason Lenhard and Mike Faust may not be of a similar build, but the two wrestlers have a lot in common.
"They're tremendous wrestlers and have been great examples of leadership and inspiration to their teammates," Penn coach Roger Reina said.
Faust has had several of those types of inspirational performances this season. Especially memorable was his upset victory over Brown junior Bronson Lingamfelter in the 2000 Keystone Classic.
With just three seconds left in a 30-second overtime tiebreaker, Faust escaped Lingamfelter's clutches to earn the victory, bringing the Palestra crowd to its feet in the process.
Faust had a nearly identical performance against Harvard junior Dawid Rechul three months later in another upset victory.
Both outcomes pleased Penn's other wrestlers, but that's nothing new for Faust. He has always been a people-pleaser, according to good friend and College freshman Paul Byrne.
"He's a great guy, loves to have fun, jokes around, and is always up for having a good time," Byrne said. "He is also always looking out for his friends."
Faust, whose ability now earns the praise of spectators, wasn't always such a dominant wrestler.
"[Wrestling] was really challenging at first," Faust said. "I was 110 at 10 years old, and 130 at 11 years old. I was this little fat kid wrestling 15-year-olds and getting pinned all the time."
Faust, who also played football and baseball, was nonetheless intrigued by the sport.
"It was still exciting and fun," Faust said. "Some tournaments I'd take third place out of three and I'd still be happy because I got a medal or trophy."
Somewhere along the way, however, Faust began showing the signs of a great wrestler in the making.
He was 18-1 in eighth grade and finished second in the state in his weight class.
"I turned the corner... [then]," Faust said. "I carried that success into high school, and hopefully I'll continue to carry it into college."
Faust has been quite successful thus far. He is currently ranked No. 5 in the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association and is the only freshman in the top 6.
Lenhard has also been impressive in just his first year of collegiate wrestling. He is currently the No. 1 seed in the EIWA 125-pound division and is the favorite to win the title this weekend.
The native of Parma, Ohio, got to where he is by starting at a young age and working hard, as Faust did.
"My dad started me in wrestling in first grade," Lenhard said. "I wrestled with a club, and never really wrestled with a team [until high school]. I wrestled high school with St. Edwards, and then came here."
Faust, sitting next to Lenhard, could not help but comment on the brief description of his early wrestling career.
"Inspirational. I'm inspired," Faust said sarcastically.
And this type of interaction is an important part of what these two young wrestlers bring to the Penn wrestling team.
"They add a lot of fun and humor to the team," Reina said. "It's a good chemistry and a good mix."
Wharton freshman Tony Fay, who is a close friend of Lenhard's, agrees with Reina.
"What everyone will tell you about Mason is that he's a real energetic person," Fay said. "He's real loud, that's what I like about him. He's hilarious with the things he says, and also his facial expressions."
They may be all laughs off the mat, but on the mat they become intense and dedicated.
"They've been good students of the sport, and they've made good progress throughout the course of the season," Reina said. "They're not wrestling like freshmen now. They're wrestling more like veteran wrestlers."
Learning to step in early will be important as they become the leaders of the team in the future and guide the younger wrestlers.
And while many Penn wrestlers obtained that guidance from older brothers that wrestled, Lenhard and Faust didn't have that advantage.
"I have two sisters, and no brothers, so that didn't really work out," Lenhard said.
"I have two sisters, and they're tough, but I can still take them," Faust added jokingly.
The two grapplers have plenty in common besides two female siblings. Both Wharton students, Faust and Lenhard recognize the unbeatable combination of wrestling and academics offered at Penn.
"This has got to be the No. 1 academic-athletic combination, with wrestling and Wharton, so that's why I chose to come here," Lenhard said.
With the future of the Penn wrestling team partially in the hands of Lenhard and Faust, there promises to be a lot of laughing and a lot of money.
But most importantly, the dynasty Reina has worked so hard to develop on the mat will be fed by these two for another three years.
(02/22/01 10:00am)
From his large frame, confidence and intensity, one would think that Penn wrestler Mike Fickell has always asked for -- and gained -- respect.
But it wasn't always that way for the senior co-captain of the Penn wrestling team.
When Fickell picked up the sport of wrestling at the tender age of three, he was constantly bullied by his older brother.
"I was always the youngest,"Fickell said. "My cousin, who lived with us a lot of times, would always beat my brother up because he was four or five years older than him. My brother was about four or five years older than me, so he would always bully me around."
However, Fickell looks at the experience positively.
"It was good for the sport because it teaches you to fight back sometimes instead of always getting pushed around,"Fickell said.
And despite the chain of bullying, Fickell isn't all rough edges.
"I come across as rough and tough to a lot of people," Fickell said. "[But] when you really get to know me, there's a softer side.I just don't show it a lot."
His wrestling mentor at college, Penn coach Roger Reina, agrees with Fickell's self-assessment.
"He's very personable, easy-going and a good friend to all those around him," Reina said.
Spending many an afternoon trying to fight back against his brother, the young Fickell soon learned to take care of business on the mat the way his older brother eventually did on the field as a 250-pound linebacker for Ohio State.
Fickell took care of business in school too -- and not just in the classroom.
"Since I was in junior high, I was always [coming up with] ways to make money," Fickell said. "We didn't have any vending machines in the school, so I took this candy that my grandpa would get for free and sell it. I used to make like $80 a week."
Focusing his time on candy-selling, Fickell didn't really have the body of a wrestler when he entered ninth grade.
"I was a scrawny 119-pounder as a freshman in high school," Fickell said.
Fickell put on 80 pounds -- and in the process became a two-time Ohiostate placewinner -- under the leadership of his high school wrestling coach, Mark Marinelli.
"[Marinelli] took me under his wing, helped me hit the weights and taught me a lot of the technique that I use today," Fickell said.
At the end of high school, the Columbus, Ohio, native had no problem deciding where he wanted to go to college.
"I always wanted to go into business,"Fickell said. "I heard that Wharton was number one in the country. Putting the wrestling and academics together, [Penn] wasn't that tough of a choice."
In his striving for excellence, he also had no problems deciding between wrestling or playing football, the two sports he excelled in at the high school level.
"I always wanted to be a Division I athlete,"said Fickell, who wrestles at 197 pounds for Penn. "I could have played football at a smaller school -- a Division II or Division III. But I always aspired to reach the top of my potential, and DivisionI athletics was how I saw [myself] doing it."
Fickell's devotion to excellence in the classroom has only grown stronger at Penn. A Whartonite concentrating in Finance and Management, the soon-to-be graduate will be working at Morgan Stanley-Dean Witter next year.
The business-savvy Fickell has also worked hard to improve on the mat. From the mental aspect of the sport, he has learned over the past four years to take things one bout at a time.
"I let the outcomes take care of itself, and I try not to put any pressure on myself by saying I need to be this, or I need to be that," Fickell said. "I want to go out there and perform to my ability. If it puts me on top of the All-America stand, then so be it."
It is clear that Fickell wrestles for his team first, and then himself.
Nonetheless, his quest to benefit the team has led to some individual fame.
With two tournaments remaining -- the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling AssociationChampionships and the National Collegiate Athletic Association WrestlingChampionships -- Fickell is just two pins shy of tying Rick Springman's school record of most falls in one season (11).
"More on a team aspect, I look for the pin,"Fickell said. "But [the record] gives me a little extra incentive."
And as a senior and a co-captain, Fickell has had to take on the role of a leader.
"People look up to you, soyou have to be the one leading your team and setting the example," Fickell said. "In previous years, I could feed off of other people, but now I have to set the example so younger kids can feed off of me. It is especially important [this year] with five freshmen in the line-up."
Penn wrestler Jeff Eveleth -- the Quakers' starter at 133 pounds and one of the five freshmen Fickell refers to -- thinks that the senior co-captain has done a great job filling the shoes of a leader.
"He does what a leader has to do,"Eveleth said. "He's there when you need help for pretty much everything. In the room, he helps guys to train and pushes himself and everyone else."
Reina agrees with Eveleth's evaluation.
"He leads by example," Reina said. "If you see him in the weight room, he'll be one of the hardest workers in there."
Reina credits some recent Penn graduates with Fickell's success as a leader.
"When he came on board, we had guys like Clint Matter, Brandon Slay, Andrei Rodzianko and a lot of other harder workers in and around his weight," Reina said. "He's taken that momentum of the student wrestlers that were here before him. Now it's his turn."
Reina is also very happy with the way Fickell has garnered bonus points, something by which the Quakers have lived and died this season in dual meets.
"He's been a great example by leading the team in falls and bonus points," Reina said.
Fickell's ability to get the team points has been a product of his commitment to technique.
"I'd say I'm more of a technician," Fickell said. "Some people get away with speed and power. But I've been around the sport so long that I've picked up on many technical aspects of it."
Reina believes that his work ethic at Penn has helped him develop more completely as a wrestler.
"Over the years, he's become much more complete technically," Reina said. "He has very good leg attacks and exceptional foot speed, especially for an upper weight. He also has the ability to throw from several different positions. He's become dominant on top, and typically he's very quick about getting off the bottom."
Fickell may go down in Penn wrestling lore as a dominant grappler. But for his teammates and those who know him best, it is his solid technique as a leader and friend that make him truly memorable.
