PHILADELPHIA – The time is finally here, as the #11/10 University of Pennsylvania men's lacrosse team opens their season Saturday afternoon at #8/12 Georgetown in Washington, D.C.
 
The reigning Ivy League Tournament champions got as far as the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Tournament last season and are in a great position to get back there in 2023.
 
Saturday's contest will kick off at noon and will be streamed live on FloSports (subscription required) with Jeremy Huber (PxP) and Earl Brewer (Analyst) on the call.
 
GAME 1: #11/10 Penn at #8/12 Georgetown
Saturday, Feb. 18 | Noon
Washington, D.C. | Cooper Field
Watch (FloSports) | Live Stats | Game Notes | Tickets
 
WE'RE BACK!
Saturday officially marks the start of the 106th season of Penn Men's Lacrosse, which is poised to be one of the most memorable in program history. Coming off the Quakers' third Ivy tournament title in 2022 and a berth into the NCAA Quarterfinals, Penn is fully locked and loaded, returning several key starters and looking to advance to Championship Weekend for the first time since 1988.
 
THE PENN-GEORGETOWN SERIES
The Quakers and Hoyas will meet for just the fourth time in the series history and for the second consecutive season. Penn has lost all three matchups including a 10-8 home defeat in 2022, almost exactly a year to the date (2/19).
 
PRESEASON ACCOLADES
It's been a fairly eventful preseason for the Quakers on the awards front, whipping up a laundry list of preseason accolades ahead of the start of the season. Both Inside Lacrosse and USA Lacrosse Magazine named Sam Handley, Piper Bond, Dylan Gergar, BJ Farrare and Brendan Lavelle Preseason All- Americans, while Handley earned First-team honors from USILA and was named USA Lax Mag's Preseason Player and Midfielder of the Year.
 
RIP CITY RINGER
Speaking of Handley, yes, he's back for another season and he's better than ever. In 2022, the Portland, Ore. native scored 36 goals with 37 assists and was named a unanimous First-team All-American, a finalist for the prestigious Tewaaraton Award, the 2022 Ivy League Player of the Year and received the Donald J.MacLaughlin, Jr. Award, given by the USILA for Midfielder of the Year. Heading into this campaign, Handley was ranked No.2 on Inside Lacrosse's 'Top 50 Men's Lacrosse Players to Watch in 2023' list and made it to final round of cuts for the U.S.Men's National Team.
 
LEADING THE PACK
*Mike Murphy returns to Penn for his 14th season in charge as head coach. The all-time winningest head coach in program history, Murphy is searching for his 90th career victory against Georgetown on Saturday. During Murphy's regime, the Quakers have qualified for the Ivy League Tournament in eight of the past 11 seasons with three tournament titles (2014, 2019, 2022).Penn won the Ivy League regular season title in 2019.
 
TALK ABOUT LEADERSHIP
The 2023 Quakers are certainly not lacking leadership on the squad, returning 17 seniors to the roster, including four players returning to University City to use a fifth year of eligibility. Of those 17, Penn returns a pair of First-team All-Ivy selections from a season ago (Bond and Handley), three Second-teamers (Gergar, Lavelle and James Shipley) and two honorable mention picks (Farrare and Peter Blake).
 
OH CAPTAINS, MY CAPTAINS
Murphy officially named his captains for the 2023 season on Friday morning. Seniors James Shipley, Peter Blake and Matt Palazzi will represent the Red and Blue as captains for the upcoming year.
 
FRESH FACES
On the flip side, new blood is abundant on this team with 17 members of the freshman class entering the fold. Of those, Griffin Scane received plenty of off-field recognition in the preseason for his high potential, ranked No.9 on Inside Lacrosse's list for 'Top Incoming Freshmen,' released back in November.
 
TWO FOR TEWAARATON
Handley and the Tewaaraton Award should be a common bond this season, given to the top men's lacrosse player in the nation at the end of the season. Joining him on the watch list ahead of this campaign is Gergar, who found himself in a similar situation heading into last season.
 
Gergar led the Quakers with 52 goals in 2022, the second most in program history for a single season, while Handley's 37 helpers were the third most.
 
ANOTHER TOUGH SCHEDULE!
The Georgetown matchup is just the beginning as Penn heads into the 2023 season with one of the toughest schedules in the nation as eight of its 12 opponents are among ranked teams in the USILA Coaches Poll.
 
Last season, Penn went 7-5 in those games, the wins coming against #10 Cornell (15-11), #11 Duke (14-13 OT), #17 Harvard (11-8), and #18 Saint Joseph's (13-12 OT); the Ivy League Tournament against #8 Brown (14-9) and #6 Yale (16-9); and the NCAA First Round vs. #14 Richmond (11-10 OT).
 
WE'RE STREAKING
Both Handley and Gergar find themselves on pretty distinctive lists in terms of point and goal streaks. Handley is fifth in the nation with a 33-game points streak. He has totaled 74 goals, 65 assists and 139 points during the streak registering a point in all 33 games he's played in his career so far.

Gergar has the fifth-longest goal scoring streak in the country at 23 straight games, notching a goal in every single game he played last year. During this run, Gergar has 79 goals.
 
SCOUTING THE HOYAS
Georgetown fell to unranked Johns Hopkins last Saturday, 13-12, in Baltimore. Tucker Dordevic scored a game-high five goals, while four Hoyas registered an assist. Danny Hincks made 13 saves in goal. Georgetown had a solid season in 2022, going 15-2 overall with a 5-0 record in Big East play, winning the Big East title with a 14-12 victory over Villanova. The Hoyas fell to Delaware, 10-9, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.