Men's Lacrosse Hosts Harvard on Saturday

PHILADELPHIA - The Penn men's lacrosse team has a quick turnaround after a midweek, non-conference game against Bucknell. The Quakers host Harvard on Saturday in the final home game of the 2012 regular season.

GAME 10
PENN (1-8, 0-4) vs. HARVARD (6-5, 2-1)
Saturday, April 14, 2012 * Noon
Franklin Field (Philadelphia)

Thank You, Seniors!
Five Penn players are playing their final home game on Saturday: Anthony Adler, John Conneely, Alek Ferro, Will Koshansky and Dan Savage. The Penn men's lacrosse program would like to thank them for the last four years, and we wish them well in their future endeavors!

The Series with Harvard
The Crimson lead the series, 43-35, with two ties. These teams actually met twice last year -- Penn won the regular-season meeting in Cambridge, 7-6 in double overtime, but Harvard exacted revenge with a 12-8 semifinal win at the Ivy League Tournament in Ithaca, N.Y.

About Harvard
The Crimson are coming off an 18-4 win over Quinnipiac on Tuesday night, as 11 different players scored led by Will Walker's four goals. Harvard is 2-1 in Ivy play, with home wins over Brown (in overtime) and Dartmouth and a loss last Saturday at Cornell. Jeff Cohen leads the Crimson with 41 goals and 47 points, while Daniel Eipp has 22 goals and 38 points. Kevin Vaughan, a first-team All-Ivy pick last year, has a team-high 17 assists and 29 points.

Around the Ivy League
In other weekend games, Yale (2-2) will be at Brown (1-2) on Friday night at 7 p.m., and Dartmouth (0-3) is at Princeton (3-0) for a 1 p.m. start on Saturday. Cornell (4-0) has the bye and will not play any games this weekend.

Penn in the Mile High Classic
The Penn men's lacrosse team will participate in the Whitman's Sampler Mile High Classic presented by Inside Lacrosse on Friday, April 27 in Denver, Colo. The Quakers are slated to meet defending NCAA champion Virginia in the first half of a doubleheader at Sports Authority Field (home of the NFL's Denver Broncos); 2011 NCAA semifinalists Duke and Denver will play in the other game.

About Penn
*According to laxpower.com, Penn enters the weekend having played the toughest schedule in the country. Among its nine games to date, the Quakers have played teams that are ranked fifth (Cornell), seventh (Duke), eighth (UNC), 11th (Lehigh), 12th (Villanova), 15th (Princeton), 18th (Bucknell) and 20th (Yale) in this week's USILA national coaches poll. Harvard enters Saturday's contest among teams receiving votes in that poll.

*After averaging 6.6 goals per game in its first five contests, Penn had scored 30 goals over a three-game span (11 vs. Cornell, 9 at Yale, 10 vs. Brown) before being held to three at Bucknell.

*In its last two Ivy League games, Penn has given up the winning goal with 12 seconds left to lose at Yale and with 11 seconds left to lose at home against Brown.

*Three players lead the team in scoring with 19 points: seniors John Conneely and Dan Savage (both with 13g, 6a) and junior Tim Schwalje (12g, 7a).

*Conneely and Schwalje remain the only Penn players to have a point in every game this season. (Savage has a point in eight of the Quakers' nine games including each of the last seven.)

*Sophomore Drew Belinsky had a goal and an assist against Bucknell, the third time in four games he has done that (also Brown and Cornell). Prior to this four-game run, he had just two points in Penn's first five contests.

*Junior Ryan Parietti was shut out on Tuesday at Bucknell, but has two or more points in five of Penn's last seven games.

*Junior defenseman Anthony Santomo had an assist on Tuesday night, his first collegiate point.

*Sophomore Zack Losco had four caused turnovers at Bucknell, giving him a team-leading 15 this season. Santomo has 14 caused turnovers, while sophomore Maxx Meyer has 12 and senior Will Koshansky has 11.

*Meyer leads Penn with 26 ground balls, while Losco has 23.

*Freshman Joe McCallion and sophomore Danny Feeney have basically split time on faceoffs this season; McCallion has a .449 win percentage on 107 faceoffs, while Feeney is at .398 for his 83 matchups.

*McCallion had two assists last Saturday against Brown, his first two points as a collegian.

*Sophomore goalie Brian Feeney -- Danny's twin brother -- tied a career high with 14 saves Tuesday night at Bucknell; he now has a .459 save percentage for the season and a 10.00 goals-against average.

*Junior goalie Brendan Engelke saw his first action of 2012 two weeks ago at Yale, starting the game and playing a half. He had two saves and allowed seven goals.

*Penn finished the 2011 regular season at 8-6, its best overall record since 2006 (10-4), and advanced to the NCAAs for the first time since that 2006 season.

*In Ivy League play, Penn's 4-2 record last year was its best since, you guessed it, 2006. However, the Quakers took second in the Ivy standings, behind Cornell. The last time Penn finished second in the Ivies? Try 1989.