Men's Lacrosse Hosts Duke Friday Night

PHILADELPHIA - The University of Pennsylvania men's lacrosse team is ready to face off for the 2013 season; the Quakers will play No. 14 Duke Friday night in their season opener. Faceoff at Franklin Field is scheduled for 7 p.m.

GAME 1 - PENN (0-0) vs. #14 DUKE (2-2)
Friday, Feb. 22, 2013 * 7 p.m.
Franklin Field (Philadelphia)
TV: PennAthletics.com (there is a charge for this service)

Click here for Live Stats!

The Series with Duke
This marks the fourth straight year that Penn has opened its season with Duke-it also marks the fourth year at Penn for Head Coach Mike Murphy, a Duke graduate. Coincidence? Penn leads the series, 3-2, including a 7-3 victory two years ago here at Franklin Field in the only Philadelphia meeting between these two programs.
  3/14/1970 ... Penn 5, at Duke 3
  3/18/1971 ... Penn 8, at Duke 7 (2ot)
  2/27/2010 ... at Duke 16, Penn 11
  2/26/2011 ... at Penn 7, Duke 3
  2/24/2012 ... at Duke 12, Penn 8

About Duke
The Blue Devils are already playing their fifth game of the season, and are 2-2 after two full weekends of play. They were ranked sixth in the USILA preseason national poll, but fell to 14th in Monday's most recent poll. Jordan Wolf leads Duke in scoring, with 13 goals and six assists for 19 points, while three other players have nine points each-David Lawson (6g, 3a), Jake Tripucka (5g, 4a) and Christian Walsh (5g, 4a). Four different goalies have seen time in the cage, but Dan Wigrizer has a majority of the minutes; he has a 10.80 goals-against average and a .400 save percentage.

Penn in the Independence Classic
For the second straight season, Penn will participate in one of Inside Lacrosse's premium events. This year, it is the inaugural Whitman's Sampler Independence Classic which will be held Saturday, March 9 at PPL Park in Chester (home of Major League Soccer's Philadelphia Union). The Quakers will face off with regional rival Villanova at 2:30, sandwiched between games pitting Syracuse against St. John's (noon) and Penn State against Lehigh (5 p.m.).
     Ticket prices to the Whitman's Sampler Independence Classic are $45 for club seats; $35 for midfield reserved seats; $25 for sideline reserved locations; $20 for groups of 10 or more; and $15 for groups of 100 or more. Parking can also be purchased in advance for $15.
     Fans can call ComcastTix at 800-298-4200, visit PhiladelphiaUnion.com or IndependenceClassic.com to get the latest news on the event and ticket details.

About Penn
*Expect to see plenty of new faces and previously unfamiliar names on the scoresheet tonight, especially on offense. Penn lost three of its top five scorers from a year ago (John Conneely, Dan Savage, Anthony Adler) as well as a starting All-Ivy defenseman (Will Koshansky) and a starter at short-stick middie (Alek Ferro).

*The leading returning scorer is senior Tim Schwalje, who tied for the team lead in assists (13), tied for second in goals (18), and was second in points (31). He was one of just two players to record a point in every game last season (along with Conneely).

*Senior Ryan Parietti had 16 goals and 20 points last season, good for fourth on the team in both categories, while junior Drew Belinsky had 11 points (6g, 5a).

*Penn should be solid at the defensive end of the field, where two starters remain on defense in senior Anthony Santomo and junior Maxx Meyer (an All-Ivy player his freshman year); Santomo tied for the Penn lead with 20 caused turnovers last year, while Meyer topped the squad with 40 ground balls. Junior Reid Tudor was also a regular in the defensive rotation.

*In goal, expect to see junior Brian Feeney, who has been the team's No. 1 almost his entire career. Last year, he had a 9.44 goals-against average and a .487 save percentage.

*In the midfield, Belinsky returns from last year's top unit, and the Quakers return senior Greg Ives who missed last year to an injury after running with the second unit in 2011.

*Junior Zack Losco was a leader in the defensive middie corps last year, tying Santomo atop the Penn leaderboard in caused turnovers and collecting 35 ground balls. As injuries ravaged the lineup, he moved into a more offensive role and picked up nine points (4g, 5a).

*At the face-off X, junior Danny Feeney and sophomore Joe McCallion are again expected to split duties as they did last year. McCallion had a .497 win percentage last year, while Feeney -- Brian's twin brother -- had a .424 win percentage.

*Penn welcomes two former Quaker football players to the roster this season, seniors Dave Twamley and C.J. Mooney. Both players were starters on defense for the Ivy League champs this fall -- in fact, they won three rings during their tenure on the gridiron -- and Twamley was a second-team All-Ivy recipient.