PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania men's lacrosse team looks to snap a four-game losing streak—three of them in Ivy League play—as they make the trip North to face No. 10 Harvard on Saturday.
GAME 12 – PENN (4-7, 1-3 Ivy League) at #10 HARVARD (8-2, 2-1)
Saturday, April 12, 2025 | 1 p.m. | Cambridge, Mass.
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The Series with Harvard
*93rd meeting; Penn leads 46-44-2
*This series has been fairly lopsided in recent years, Penn winning ten in a row—five of them in Cambridge—and going 14-3 against the Crimson in the last 17 meetings dating back to 2008.
*the Quakers won last year's game at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, 15-12.
Cam Rubin went wild, scoring six goals and adding two assists, while
Tynan Walsh (4g/1a) and
Griffin Scane (1g/4a) had five-point days.
Ben Smith also scored twice in the contest, while at the other end
Emmet Carroll had 18 saves (.600 save percentage).
*The last meeting in Cambridge was a 15-9 victory for the Red and Blue, two seasons ago in 2023. Rubin had four goals and an assist in that game, while Smith had four points (2g/2a) and Walsh added three (1g/2a).
Strong Schedule…Again!
Penn head coach
Mike Murphy has long been known for his strength of schedule, but he might have outdone himself in 2025. The Quakers' 14-game regular-season schedule features eight games against teams that were ranked in the USILA Preseason Top 20—five of them against Top 10 teams and three against the preseason Top 4—with four others against teams in the "receiving votes" section.
We're Going Streaking!
GOAL STREAKS: Walsh 3, Scane 2
POINT STREAKS: Walsh 3, Patterson 2, Scane 2
MULTI-POINT STREAKS: Walsh 3, Scane 2
Scoring From the Long Poles in 2025
LONG POLE GOALS: Kuehl (at Delaware), Lavelle (Villanova)
LONG POLE ASSISTS: Lavelle (at Delaware)
SportsCenter Top 10
Lavelle's goal on March 8 against Villanova—a 90-yard shot that found the back of the net in the air—not only was the Quakers' second long-pole goal this season, it also was the top play on ESPN SportsCenter's "Top 10 Plays" on Sunday morning.
Defense!
*Defense has long been a calling card at Penn under head coach
Mike Murphy, and Lavelle and his fellow members on this year's defensive unit have only enhanced that reputation. The Quakers have held an opposing offense scoreless for more than 12 minutes on 12 different occasions so far this season (failing to do so in just two games, on February 28 at UNC and April 5 vs. Yale). A breakdown…
AT GEORGETOWN: 18:11 and 14:47
UALBANY: 14:22 and 15:53
AT DELAWARE: 35:13 and 23:46
AT DUKE: 12:53
VILLANOVA: 32:52
BROWN: 20:52
SAINT JOSEPH'S: 17:56
DARTMOUTH: 27:42
CORNELL 18:26
*In addition, the Quakers have posted five shutout quarters so far this season: the first and second quarters at Delaware, the first and second quarters vs. Villanova, and the third quarter last Saturday against Dartmouth.
Trio Earns IL Midseason All-America Recognition
Inside Lacrosse posted its Midseason All-America teams on March 27 and the Quakers had three players who received honorable mention recognition: senior goalie
Emmet Carroll, senior defenseman
Brendan Lavelle, and sophomore SSDM
Anthony McMullan.
Quaker Notemeal
*Penn spent the first six weeks in all three national polls—USILA, Inside Lacrosse, and USA Lacrosse Magazine—but fell out two weeks ago and haven't been able to get back in.
*To give you a sense of Penn's consistency in recent years, the Quakers' current four-game losing streak is its first since 2015.
*A positive development from the last two weeks has been the continued emergence of senior
Tynan Walsh. A Preseason All-America selection by USA Lacrosse Magazine, Walsh missed seven of the first nine games due to injury—and was limited to EMO duty in the other two—but saw regular action at Cornell and against Yale the last two weeks and put a combined eight points on the board (2g/1a vs. the Big Red, 1g/4a vs. the Bulldogs).
*With ten points across the last three games, Walsh is closing in on 100 career points; he enters Saturday's contest in Cambridge with 96 (46g/50a). He would join fellow seniors
Ben Smith and
Cam Rubin at the century mark, as both Smith and Rubin surpassed the 100-point mark during the UAlbany win on February 18. Smith enters Saturday's game with the Crimson at 121 career points (91g/30a) while Rubin has 117 (93g/24a).
*Junior
Griffin Scane scored five times last Saturday vs. the Eli, a career high for him, while junior
Travis Smith—who entered the contest with one career point—had his first multi-point game as a collegian with a goal and an assist.
*
Ben Smith (no relation to Travis) scored three times last Saturday, giving him four hat tricks this season with two of them coming in Ivy play (also March 15 vs. Brown).
*Sophomore
Davis Provost led the attack against Dartmouth on March 22, with three goals, while classmate
Leo Hoffman had a goal and dished out three assists for a four-goal game. Of note, Scane was held without a point, snapping a streak of 16 straight games in which he recorded a point dating back to last season.
*The offense also was bolstered by Walsh's return against the Big Green; the senior attackman was limited primarily to the Quakers' EMO, scoring once and dishing off an assist on two of their extra-man opportunities against the Big Green.
*
Ben Smith scored four goals against the Hawks, giving him seven across the last two games, while Rubin—who was held scoreless against Brown—went for a hat trick.
Chris Patterson finished the game with four points (2g/2a) and Provost added a goal and an assist.
*Smith scored a natural hat trick against Bruno on March 15, turning a 2-2 tie into a 5-2 lead that the Quakers never relinquished. Scane and Provost scored two goals each while
Nate Lucchesi dished out two assists and Patterson added a goal and an assist.
*At the other end, senior All-America
Emmet Carroll had 15 saves against the Bears for a .652 save percentage, his fourth time in seven games this season above .600 in that category. That Monday, Carroll earned his second Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week honor of the season.
*In addition, senior All-America defenseman
Brendan Lavelle was everywhere, with two caused turnovers and six ground balls.
*Scane scored a career-high five goals to lead the attack March 8 against Villanova, while Rubin scored twice. Smith dished out three assists while Hoffman had two. At the other end, Carroll made 14 saves (.636 save percentage) and the defense shut out VU through the first half (taking a 6-0 lead to the locker room).
*The weekend before that, Penn was on Tobacco Road and fell to then-No. 4 North Carolina (16-8) and No. 5 Duke (11-6). One of the highlights from the weekend was Carroll, who had 13 saves in the loss to the Blue Devils which included his 500th wearing the Red and Blue uniform. He became the first goalie to reach the milestone since Reed Junkin (647 from 2016-19).
*Rubin led Penn in both games in Carolina, with four goals against the Tar Heels and two more against Duke.
*In a 10-2 win at then-No. 17 Delaware on February 22, Carroll posted 14 saves and allowed just one goal (.933 save percentage) as the Quakers gave up the fewest goals in a game since an 11-2 win over Dartmouth on April 20, 2013. Not surprisingly, he was named Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week, sharing the honor with Brown goalie Connor Foley.
*Offensively, Penn had eight different goal scorers and 10 different players who recorded at least a point against the Hens. Provost and Patterson both had two-goal, one-assist performances to lead the attack. Scane was the only other multi-point player for the Quakers, with a goal and an assist, and he is the only player so far this season with multiple points in every game so far.
*In the win over the UAlbany on February 18, the Quakers never trailed in the game and used a 6-1 run after the Danes got within 5-4 midway through the second quarter to cruise to victory.
*Patterson and Smith led the attack against UA, both finishing with five points as Patterson scored a game-high four goals and Smith recorded a hat trick and dished out two assists. For Patterson, they were his first collegiate points.
*Scane also had a hat trick, while Rubin had two goals and an assist. Provost had his first multi-point game of the season and fourth at Penn, with a goal and an assist.
*Another sophomore who scored his first collegiate goal in the UAlbany game was
Jacob Pacheco.
*Rubin led the attack in the season opener at Georgetown on February 15, with a goal and two assists, while Scane was the Quakers' only multi-goal scorer. The other goal scorers were Hoffman, Provost and Lucchesi (the freshman netting his first collegiate tally).
*At the other end, Carroll finished with 13 saves and the Penn defense forced Georgetown into six shot-clock violations among its 14 turnovers.
*The Red and Blue were picked fourth in the Ivy League's Preseason Media Poll, which was announced on February 7. Penn got 57 voting points and were behind Cornell (90 points/9 first-place votes), Princeton (87/4) and Yale (71/1). The Quakers were voted ahead of Harvard (45), Brown (27) and Dartmouth (15).
*Now in his 16th season as Penn's head coach, Murphy is the program's all-time winningest coach; Penn's victory over Brown on March 15 gave him 109 as the Red and Blue's mentor and 44 in Ivy League play.
*On the field, all eyes this season have been on a pair of fifth-year seniors for the Quakers: goalie
Emmet Carroll and defenseman
Brendan Lavelle.
*Carroll's preseason honors: Consensus first-team All-America (USILA, Inside Lacrosse, USA Lacrosse Magazine); Tewaaraton Award Preseason Watch List; Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year by USA Lax Mag; #4 on the Inside Lacrosse Preseason Top 50.
*Lavelle's preseason honors: Consensus first-team All-America (USILA, Inside Lacrosse, USA Lacrosse Magazine); Tewaaraton Award Preseason Watch List; Preseason Defenseman of the Year by USA Lax Mag; #10 on the Inside Lacrosse Preseason Top 50.
*Carroll in 2024: Consensus second-team All-America, Tewaaraton Award nominee and first-team All-Ivy selection. Finished with a .594 save percentage—leading the nation in that category—and posted a 10.82 goals-against average. That included his scintillating performance in the Ivy League Tournament, where Carroll came up with a career-high 19 saves in a semifinal win over Cornell and followed it up with another career high (20) in the final against Princeton.
*Lavelle in 2024: Consensus first-team All-America and unanimous first-team All-Ivy selection. His most noteworthy performance last year came against No. 1 Duke, when he totaled six ground balls and two caused turnovers and held reigning Tewaaraton Award winner Brennan O'Neill to just one goal on eight shots as Penn handed the top-ranked Blue Devils their first loss of the year.
*Coincidentally, both Carroll and Lavelle changed their numbers from last year, Carroll from 22 to 19 and Lavelle from 46 to 41. Both numbers hold significant prestige and responsibility in the Penn program:
- 19 was the number worn by the late James Farrell C'18, captain of Penn's 2018 team who was killed in July 2021 when an Uber he was riding in was struck head-on by a drunk driver in an accident that claimed five lives.
- In the Murphy era, 41 has become the number worn annually by the player viewed as the leader of the defensive unit.
- In both cases, the numbers are "legacy" numbers passed down by the previous season's wearer—in this case,
James Shipley (last year's #19) and
Peter Blake (last year's #41).
*Other players who received preseason honors ahead of the 2025 campaign include attackmen
Cam Rubin and
Tynan Walsh, who got Preseason All-America honorable mention recognition from USA Lax Mag; and sophomore
Anthony McMullan, who received Preseason All-America honorable mention from Inside Lacrosse.
*Penn returns four All-Ivy players from a year ago: Carroll, Lavelle and Rubin were first-team All-Ivy selections while senior
Ethan Till was a second-team All-Ivy pick by the Ancient Eight coaches.
*Among the newcomers, five of them earned a spot on the
Inside Lacrosse Power 100 freshmen rankings during the fall: defenseman
Dante Vardaro was ranked 25th, midfielder
Paul vanBastelaar was 28th, FOGO
Stevie Davis was 41st, defenseman
Matt Wills was 48th, and attacker/midfielder
Nate Lucchesi was 91st.
*Carroll, Lavelle and Walsh are this season's captains.
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