PHILADELPHIA – The 17th-ranked University of Pennsylvania men's lacrosse team opened Ivy League play with a 9-8 win over Brown Saturday afternoon at Franklin Field.
The Quakers never trailed in Saturday's game with the Bears, but could never shake their guests and had to fend off a late two-minute, non-releasable penalty before emerging with the victory.
Penn improved to 4-3 while Brown fell to 2-4 in what was the Ivy opener for both squads.
Quaker Notemeal
*Brown outshot Penn, 38-31, but senior All-America goalie
Emmet Carroll stood tall with 15 saves for a .652 save percentage.
*Senior
Ben Smith led the Penn attack with three goals, while
Griffin Scane and
Davis Provost scored twice each.
*
Chris Patterson and
Ben Beacham were the Quakers' other goal scorers on Saturday, and Patterson also dished out an assist.
*
Nate Lucchesi had two assists on the day while
Luke DiNola and
Leo Hoffman joined Patterson with one each.
*Penn's defense caused 11 turnovers on the day as
Brendan Lavelle,
Dante Vardaro and
Matthew Till had two each.
*Lavelle also led all players with six ground balls.
How It Happened
Beacham got Penn on the board a little more than two minutes into the contest, and then after Brown tied it 1-1 Scane came from behind the goal to rip a low-to-high shot for a 2-1 lead. That held a little more than two minutes before the Bears again drew level. However, Smith gave the Quakers a lead they would never relinquish with two goals in the final 3:19 of the first quarter—the first when he rebounded a shot off the post and converted, and the second in transition. Penn's lead was 4-2 after one.
Smith made it a natural hat trick, quick-sticking a feed from Patterson just 1:09 into the second for a 5-2 lead, but Brown came back with a rebound and an extra-man score to draw back within one at 5-4 midway through the second. Provost netted his first of the day in spectacular fashion, running it in from near the substitution box and firing one home for a 6-4 lead. Bruno again got within a goal, turning a Penn turnover near midfield into a transition tally, but a little less than two minutes later a seemingly innocuous clear by the Quakers became an odd-man rush and Patterson finished a DiNola feed. It was still 7-5 at the break.
The third quarter had plenty of action but not a lot of goals. Brown made the score 7-6 just 66 seconds into the period, and more than eight minutes went by before Penn was able to go back up by two as Hoffman set up shop up top of Penn's EMO and found Provost near the right post. He threaded his pass through several defensive sticks, and Provost made the catch and converted on the doorstep. That was the final goal of the period, and Penn's lead was still two heading into the final 15.
Nearly seven minutes went by in the fourth before anyone found the goal. That was Brown, as Marcus Wertheim (4g/1a) came around from up top, slipped off his man at the near post, and beat Carroll. Three more minutes went off the clock before Penn went back up by two, the Red and Blue converting another man-up situation as Lucchesi found Scane in front of the goal and the junior quickly pumped a shot into the upper left corner.
It looked like that might be enough, but things got dicey with 2:29 left when Penn was called for a hit to the head and given a two-minute, non-releasable penalty that was upheld after a video review. The defense stood strong, however, and fought off the entirety of the man-up situation.
Out of a timeout, Brown finally scored with 12.1 seconds left in the game, making it 9-8. Bruno then won the ensuing face-off as Penn essentially gave them the ball to get into proper defensive positions. The best the Bears could do was fire an off-balance shot from distance that Carroll was easily able to handle, and the clock ran out with the ball still in his stick.
Up Next
Penn continues this four-game homestand with a pair of games next week, hosting city rival Saint Joseph's on Tuesday at 4 p.m. and then Ivy rival Dartmouth next Saturday at 7 p.m.
For the latest on Penn men's lacrosse, follow @PennMensLax on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.
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