PRINCETON, N.J. – The 18th-ranked University of Pennsylvania men's lacrosse team was hanging around with No. 3 Princeton at halftime of Saturday's game at Class of 1952 Stadium, but the Tigers completely shut the Quakers down in the second half on the way to a 20-8 victory.
Penn (5-6, 2-3 Ivy League) was down just 8-6 at the break, and had a chance to get within a goal. However, Princeton (9-2, 3-1) held the Red and Blue scoreless through the entire third quarter and most of the fourth, scoring 12 straight goals to pick up the win.
Quaker Notemeal
*With injuries depleting the lineup, senior
Alex Martin got some regular run on Saturday and made the most of it, coming up with his first three collegiate points with two goals and an assist to lead the Quakers.
*Junior
Davis Provost was the only other player to record multiple points, scoring a goal and dishing off an assist; he remains the only Penn player to score a goal and record a point in every game this season.
*Another player who scored his first collegiate point was junior long-stick middie
Matthew Till, while junior SSDM
Anthony McMullan netted his third goal this season and his second in as many games.
*Penn's other goal scorers on Saturday were freshman
Jackson Maher, senior
Matt McMillen, and junior
Ben Beacham, while sophomore
Grayson McClements had an assist.
*Penn had seven caused turnovers on Saturday, led by sophomore
Dante Vardaro who had two.
*Penn won just 13 of 30 faceoffs on the day, but freshman
Quinn Ball had success on the X (7-11, .636).
How It Happened
Princeton looked like it would run away with things early on Saturday, opening the scoring just 46 seconds in and tacking on two more just 14 seconds apart to make the score 3-0 before three minutes had ticked off the clock. The Tigers added another goal with 7:43 left, but Penn held them scoreless the rest of the period and got some life when Maher scored on a nice individual effort with 3:27 left and then Martin finished a feed from Provost on the doorstep. That made the score 4-2 after one.
Princeton opened the second-quarter scoring, but a Martin shot from up top was tipped to McMillen and the senior had the presence of mind to catch it and quickly get off his own shot for the goal. Less than a minute later, McClements and Martin teamed up and the Quakers were within a goal, at 5-4. Princeton scored twice midway through the quarter, upping its lead to three, but Provost trucked through his defender and sniped a shot from up top, and then Till matched a Tigers goal with his own tally off a turnover and transition. It was still a two-goal game at the break.
The third quarter saw Princeton gradually pull away; the Tigers scored the only four goals in the period, the first coming two minutes in and the last coming with just 1:43 left. At that point, the hosts were doubling up the Quakers, 12-6, and any hopes of a fourth-quarter comeback were dashed when the Tigers piled up four goals in a span of 3:14 to get the margin to ten.
The score got to 20-6 before McMullan finally ended Penn's scoreless drought, and then Beacham tacked on one final goal literally just ahead of the buzzer, his shot ruled to be out of the stick before the final horn went off.
Up Next
Penn will close out Ivy League play next Saturday at Brown, facing off with the Bears at 3:30 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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