PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania men's lacrosse team opened the week with the defending NCAA champions, and on Saturday the Quakers face another stiff challenge as the top-ranked team in the nation invades Franklin Field. Penn hosts Duke in a game that will start at 3 p.m., following the Penn-Johns Hopkins women's lacrosse game that starts at noon.
 
The Blue Devils are ranked No. 1 in this week's USILA poll and boast wins over Air Force, High Point, Jacksonville, and Denver. The Quakers, meanwhile, are 1-1 after a loss at No. 3 Maryland on Wednesday. They opened the season with a 12-9 win over Michigan last Saturday at Franklin Field.
 
The Series
Penn and Duke have met seven times previously, with the Blue Devils holding a narrow 4-3 lead after a 9-6 win in the most recent meeting (February 21, 2014). Good news for Quakers fans: they have hosted Duke twice and won both times, on February 26, 2011 (7-3) and February 22, 2013 (14-9).
 
About Duke
A perennial national champion contender, the Blue Devils are led offensively by Justin Guterding who has a staggering 33 points already this season (15g, 18a). Joe Robertson has scored 12 times for Duke, which is averaging 17.5 goals per game while allowing just 7.5, and Brad Smith has 10 points (5g, 5a). Danny Fowler has the most minutes in goal and boasts a .575 save percentage.
 
About Penn
*The Quakers opened their 2018 season last Saturday with a 12-9 win over Michigan at Franklin Field before falling at No. 3 Maryland on Wednesday, 13-6.
 
*Senior Kevin McGeary led the Penn attack last Saturday, scoring four goals and adding an assist. Three of his goals were unassisted efforts. He then had a goal at Maryland, so he has a team-leading six points.
 
*Junior Simon Mathias has five points after going for a goal and an assist Wednesday at Maryland. That performance extended his point-scoring streak to 30 games (or every game of his collegiate career).
 
*Junior Tyler Dunn scored twice for Penn against Michigan, and then added another against the Terps.
 
*Penn has had two long poles score already this season, as All-America candidate Connor Keating scored against Michigan—amazingly, his 29th career goal—while Jack Ullrich tallied against Maryland.
 
*The Quakers' other goal scorers so far this season are Joe Licciardi, Alex Roesner, Adam Goldner, and Sean Lulley.
 
*The Quakers return their top 11 scorers from last season. Of the 147 goals scored by the Quakers a year ago, all but six were scored by players who return to this year's roster.
 
*Keating was a third-team USILA All-America selection last year after earning honorable mention recognition as a sophomore. He is the top-scoring LSM in the country, entering the season with 28 goals and six assists for 34 career points.
 
*Mathias—who led Penn in goals (28), assists (20) and points (48) last year—was a second-team All-Ivy selection last year after sharing Ivy League Rookie of the Year honors in 2016 with teammate Reed Junkin, the Quakers' goalie.
 
*McGeary (23-12—35 in 2017) and Dunn (18-4—22) received honorable mention All-Ivy recognition last year.
 
*Three other players had a double-digit goal total last year: senior Reilly Hupfeldt (18), sophomore Adam Goldner (11), and Keating. Junior Alex Roesner nearly joined the list, with nine goals.
 
*Chris Santangelo was Penn's top face-off man last year, finishing with a .528 win percentage in 231 draws. Richie Lenskold had 73 faceoffs and had a .479 win percentage.
 
*Junkin—who sat out the first quarter last Saturday but came back to record seven saves while allowing just four goals in the final three periods—started every game last year in the cage and finished with a .500 save percentage and a 10.39 goals-against average.