PHILADELPHIA – A run to the program's first undefeated Ivy League season since 1984, Penn's fifth overall Ivy League title and the school's first since 1988 has earned the University of Pennsylvania's James H. Greene Head Coach of Men's Lacrosse Mike Murphy his first-ever Ivy League Coach of the Year selection.
 
A unanimous choice by his fellow head coaches, Murphy has led the Quakers to a 9-3 overall record and a 6-0 run through the Ivy League season. After starting the 2019 season with three consecutive losses, the Quakers turned it around to the tune of nine consecutive wins – tied for the longest-active streak in the nation and Penn's longest since winning nine in a row over parts of the 1964-65 seasons and tied for second-longest behind the 1984 team's 12-game streak.
 
Murphy and the Quakers have earned the No. 1 seed in this weekend's Ivy League Tournament, the first time in the 10-year history of the event that Penn will enters as the top seed. The Red and Blue have now qualified for seven Ivy League Tournaments under Murphy, including each of the last four.
 
With his nine wins this season, Murphy now ranks No. 2 all-time in wins by a Penn head coach, trailing only Tony Seaman (1983-90) who won 74 games during his time in University City. Murphy has 32 career wins inside the Ivy League, also trailing only Seaman (35) among Penn head coaches. The Quakers have been .500 or above in Ivy play in eight of Murphy's 10 seasons at the helm, including each of the last seven.
 
Penn's rise this season has resulted in a No. 3 national ranking in both the USILA Coaches Poll and the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll. After entering the season unranked in the USILA Coaches Poll, the Quakers have risen to tie the program record for highest-ever national ranking. The only other time Penn has been ranked as high as No. 3 was in 1984 when the Quakers held that spot for the final two weeks.
 
The Red and Blue take on Brown in the semifinals of the 2019 Ivy League Tournament on May 3. Opening faceoff with the Bears is set for 6 p.m. at Columbia's Kraft Stadium in New York City.