PHILADELPHIA – A stellar performance on the Tobacco Road last week secured Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week for defender Brendan Lavelle of the University of Pennsylvania men's lacrosse team, announced by the conference on Monday afternoon.
 
Senior Lavelle tallied 11 ground balls and four caused turnovers between the battles with #1 Duke and #18 North Carolina this past weekend to push his season totals to a team-high 17 ground balls and six caused turnovers.
 
Lavelle was a dominant force in Penn's victory in Durham, as he totaled six ground balls and two caused turnovers while holding the reigning Tewaaraton Award winner Brennan O'Neill to just one goal on eight shots as the Quakers handed the Blue Devils their first loss of the year.
 
In Sunday's contest with the nationally ranked Tar Heels, Lavelle picked up where he left off from Friday's win, as he tallied five ground balls and two more caused turnovers to end the weekend with double-digit ground balls and a team-leading four forced turnovers.
 
The Rye, N.Y. native is the second Quaker to earn Ivy League weekly honors this season, with goalkeeper Emmet Carroll grabbing the defensive weekly award last Monday.
 
Carroll, Lavelle, and the rest of the Red and Blue open Philly 4 Lacrosse action this weekend, heading to Villanova for a 1 p.m. clash.