Well, this is a pleasant surprise. At halftime, Penn men’s basketball trails Ivy-League leading Yale by only five points as the Eli lead, 37-32.

After losing a talented senior class featuring three All-Americans coming in to the year, some were doubting that Penn women’s lacrosse could see the same success this year that they had before.

This one was closer than it should have been. After struggling to gain separation early in the contest, Penn women’s basketball extended its perfect run through the Ivy League, defeating Brown on the road, 69-59, on Friday.

They say basketball is a team sport. Penn basketball proved that axiom true on Friday, as they downed Brown, 79-74, in a well-rounded effort that featured five different players scoring in double figures.

An Israeli-born fencer, a Canadian and an Ivy champion walk into a bar. And they’re all Shaul Gordon. The journey for one of Penn men’s fencing captains is far from usual, as the son of an Italian mother, the Israeli-born fencer now calls Richmond, British Columbia, his home.

That seismic activity you’ve been feeling recently has been Penn squash leaving opponents shaking in their boots after the team's wins. In a way you could thank coach Jack Wyant’s squad for the outbreak of parity that has left the College Squash Association rankings in tatters week after week.

They say that the second time’s the charm.

Friday night, Columbia Athletics’ website featured the banner headline “Lions Become First Ivy Team To Score 50 Against Quakers Despite 71-51 Loss.” It was a pretty accurate summation of how the first half of Ivy play has gone for Penn women’s basketball.

Six months of practice. 22 weeks of doubles. Thousands of miles swam. And it all comes down to three days in February. Without exaggeration, for the Quakers, this entire season has been about one thing – going fast at Ivy League Championships.

Ask anybody, and they’ll tell you that college is the time to change who you are. But Penn swimming phenom Virginia Burns didn’t foresee the transformation she would undergo.

Winning is a state of mind. And for Penn women’s lacrosse, it’s the only state of mind the members of the team have ever known.

Performing under the weight of expectations is no easy task. Just ask Penn women’s lacrosse. Heading into the 2015 season, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that the Quakers would end the season with an Ivy League Championship.

But now, Ferguson’s 2015 graduation leaves a gaping hole in the net as Penn women’s lacrosse seeks to bounce back from a disappointing season in which saw the Quakers fail to win the Ivy League for the first time since 2006.

It’s bad enough losing one all-time talent. Penn women’s lacrosse coach Karin Corbett has to find a way to handle losing three.

With a highly touted recruiting class headlined by an astonishing five U.S. Lacrosse High School All-Americans, the building blocks are in place for the program to prove that last year was a fluke and return to national prominence once again.

Over the weekend, students from across the Ivy League gathered on Penn’s campus to participate in panel discussions and workshops as part of the Unmasking the Ivy League Conference.

Over a decade and a half later, Doktor is readying for his senior season wearing the Red and Blue and leading the offense for Penn men’s lacrosse. The memories of 15 years ago remain salient in the attacker’s mind as he readies to turn a new chapter in his career in the sport.