Penn lacrosse enjoyed a successful 2013 season that saw them rebound from a disappointing 2012 season which saw the Quakers go 3-10 after going 8-7 the season before. Last season, the Quakers finished 8-5 and finished ranked No. 17 in the country at the end of the season.
The 2013 campaign got off to a strong start as they went 5-1 which included wins over Duke, Lehigh, Princeton and Villanova. However, they Quakers finished 3-3 over the final six games including three losses to Ivy League foes Cornell, Yale and Harvard. The season would end with another close loss to Yale in the Ivy League Semifinals and the beginning of looking towards the upcoming 2014 season.
As the Quakers look ahead towards this season, they will aim to keep their defensive reputation intact. The Quakers played airtight defense on opponents as they allowed a NCAA-low 7.4 goals a game last season. Unfortunately, what the team did on defense was usually in vain as the offense was pedestrian at best. The Quakers ranked 44th in the nation in scoring offense putting up nine goals a game.
This season, the offense will need to replace what little scoring they had last season as attackman Tim Schwalje and his team leading 42 points graduate this year. Schwalje also ranked 23rd in the nation with 27 assists and was the quarterback of this offense. The good news is that the team only loses one more scorer from last season’s top six point leaders in attackman Ryan Parietti. Parietti added 19 points last season, 13 of which were goals.
The good news, is that the Quakers bring back the other four top point scorers. Zack Losco and Isaac Bock lead the way as they recorded 29 and 25 points from the midfield and attack position respectively. The hope is that sophomore attackman Nick Doktor and junior attackmen Chris Hupfeldt and Will Laco can step up in a big way to help collectively replace the loss of Schwalje and Parietti at attack.
Finally, senior Drew Belinsky adds 23 points to the midfield unit and will provide a nice tandem with Losco from up top and should take turns in taking advantage of opposing short stick midfielders.
On defense, the team will need to replace one its most integral pieces on the defensive side of the ball. Departed defenseman Antony Santomo and his team-leading 27 caused turnovers will need to be replaced. Santomo’s impact will not be replaced independently, but will have to be replaced collectively as Santomo was a USILA Honorable Mention All American last season.
Luckily, the team will being back 3/4 of a their airtight defense. It all start in goal, where the Quakers bring back three year starter Brian Feeney who has started 40 games in his career and was a First-Team All-Ivy League selection last season. Feeney was also seventh in the nation in save percentage at 58.9 and allowed 7.29 goals against.
In front of him, senior Maxx Meyer and junior Matt McMahon will return as well. The two compiled 20 and 15 caused turnovers respectively, good for second and third on the team behind the departed Santomo. Losco will also be a key contributor on defense as he added 11 caused turnovers last season on his way to being named First-Team All-Ivy League as well.
In terms of the special teams, the team brings back faceoffman Danny Feeney, who won 54.2 percent of his faceoffs. He will look to build off that percentage this year and spark more offensive opportunities this season for the Quakers. The Quakers will need to get better on their Man Down defense as they allowed opponents to convert 41.3 percent of their Man-Up opportunities last season. They also were outscored in the second quarter 29-19 last season. In comparison, the Quakers outscored their opponents in every other quarter last season. If they can improve on that, this may be one of the best teams in the Ivy League, and maybe the nation.
As for the new blood coming into the program, this recruiting class features two recruits from the Inside Lacrosse Top 100 recruit rankings. The recruiting class as a whole is ranked No. 16 in the nation according to Inside Lacrosse as well. Headlining the class is No. 27 ranked recruit Kevin Gayhardt, who comes from nearby Episcopal Academy (Pa.) and will look to replace Santomo down the line.
On offense, the Quakers bring in No. 65 ranked recruit Kevin Brown from Fairfield Prep (Conn.) who will look to contribute to the attack line that lost Schwalje and Parietti.
As the team heads into the winter, it could be a team that is very dangerous come the end of the year. If their offense can produce even one of two goals more per game, their defense will continue to be one of the best units in the nation and it should coincide with an NCAA Tournament berth.
