Following Ivy title run and NCAA Tournament disappointment, men’s lacrosse aims even higher

CALEB CRAIN Sports Editor

Entering last season’s NCAA Tournament, Penn men’s lacrosse had sky-high expectations. The team was seeded third and had just won an Ivy League title, with five wins against top 10 programs in the regular season and defeats of No.1 Brown and No. 3 Yale in the conference tournament.

But under two weeks later, the dream came crashing down, as Penn was eliminated by Rutgers in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Quakers had a lead in the fourth quarter, but allowed five straight goals to the Scarlet Knights, ultimately losing 11-9.

Coming off the field in Hempstead, N.Y., the team was “upset [they] didn’t put [their] best foot forward that day,” senior long-stick midfielder BJ Farrare said. “It’s tough to see those seniors leave the field after that knowing it was a lot of those guys’ last game.”

However, last season’s finish has given the team a sense of unfinished business. Coach Mike Murphy noted that throughout the offseason, this hunger to avenge 2022’s disappointing result has been apparent throughout the team, with many athletes putting in extra work on the field or in the weight room.

“I think [the athletes] know that we can be very good if we put the time and work in,” Murphy said. “[They] own that process individually and collectively, so I think that extra work has really been a demonstration of that belief and that desire.”

Winning a national championship would be especially important to senior midfielder Sam Handley, who chose to return to Penn for his fifth year. Having missed nearly all of two seasons due to a spleen injury and the COVID-19 pandemic, last season was Handley’s first full campaign since 2019.

This year, Handley was named a preseason firstteam All-American by Inside Lacrosse. But this is nothing new for the 6-foot-5 midfielder from Portland, Ore., who was named Freshman of the Year and first-team All-American following the 2019 season. Since then, though, perspective has only

Penn Pride: Women’s lacrosse fosters new slogan in effort to rebound from losing 2022 season

AMEILA SCHARFF Sports Associate

strengthened Handley’s play.

“That lesson taught me that, you know, as quick as the fame and accolades can come, just as quickly they can go,” he said.

Murphy praised Handley’s ability to look past the individual accolades and see through the noise, lauding his immense mental maturity and capacity to work through challenges.

With the accolades and statistics — Handley led the team with 73 points last year — comes increased attention from opposing defenses. Yet when asked about it, Handley shrugged it off, saying “some teams like to try to tee off on me, but, whatever.”

But with extra efforts given to guarding Handley, other players go undefended and get the opportunity to score.

Handley won’t have to wait long for one of his most personally impactful games of the season.

When the Quakers open their season at Georgetown on Feb. 18, he will face off against former teammate Tucker Dordevic. The two were teammates from third grade through high school, and Handley said it would be extra special to share the field with him.

Georgetown, who enters the year ranked third in the nation, opens an incredibly tough schedule for the Quakers, with matches against top-10 Ivies Cornell, Princeton, and Yale. While the highranked opponents give more room for losses that could threaten Penn’s standing nationally, Murphy wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I think if you take weeks off, at some point that will catch up to you,” he said. “You never really let your guard down when you have a schedule like this and that’s the way we want to play.”

Navigating a schedule such as Penn’s will require nothing short of the consistent, comprehensive excellence as Murphy preaches, but it should also bring out the best in this Quaker team. For a team whose only goal is hoisting a trophy on Memorial Day weekend, a high level of play couldn’t be more essential.

After an uncharacteristically tough season last year for the women’s lacrosse team, the squad has come back with a new motto for the 2023 season: Penn Pride.

Last season, the Red and Blue went 3-4 against Ivy League foes and had a 6-9 overall record. This losing season was surprising for the Quakers, given that under coach’s Karin Corbett tenure, the squad has reached 11 Ivy League championships in 16 years, with the most recent wins being in 2016, 2017, and 2018.

“We brought back a couple alums [in the offseason] who were in the Final Four runs from 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010 teams to talk to this team about rebuilding a culture that they built,” Corbett said. “It’s getting [the team] to understand the work that that takes, and how to get back there. I think they’ve been really receptive to that and they’re really excited to hear the stories of the alums and how they did it. They’re excited to step into that, and to really get us back to the top.”

These visits have transformed the team’s culture, according to senior defender Grace Fujinaga. This season is all about Penn pride for both her and her teammates.

“We’ve really gone back to Penn pride and [asked], what does Penn pride mean?” Fujinaga said. “We cheer it almost every day, and that’s why our alumni have come back because it’s a huge part of our culture. What each letter of pride means to Penn and our lacrosse team is unique, and it’s why we all came to Penn.”

The biggest obstacles the squad faced last season was injuries. This season, however, many key players are back, giving the Quakers new strength in both the defensive and midfield position groups. Senior defender Izzy Rohr, who missed all of the 2022 season, is such a Quaker returning to the field this year.

Another returning player is senior midfielder Caitlin Cook. She hasn’t played for three years due to the cancellation of the 2020 and 2021 seasons to COVID-19 and then an injury in the 2022 season. Given all the time spent on the sidelines, she said that she has learned a lot, but more importantly is excited and hungry to return to the field.

The squad was also fairly young last season, but Corbett believes last season has given many of her players the practice on the field they need to succeed this season. This year, there are eight seniors on the squad.

In terms of the squad’s strengths, Penn has a large and versatile group of strong midfielders that are able to speed up the game, in addition to a variety of players in the attacking position. To Corbett, each athlete has an individual style of play, and these different strengths will make the squad very difficult to defend.

“I think this team is really embodying Penn pride and the tradition that [Corbett] has created,” Fujinaga said. “We are so ready to start fighting our way through this amazing Ivy League. We’re totally bought in and we’re all ready to go, we’re ready to start competing.”

The squad is looking forward to a tough schedule this season. Not only does the team hope to make a comeback and win an Ivy League championship, but they also hope to compete on the national level too. The squad is set to play both Florida and Johns Hopkins this season to get more national exposure.

“We always want to play a tough schedule,” Corbett said. “I think it makes us better for our league games, as well as preparing us for the tournament. So if [we] don’t win the Ivy League, [we] have shown a body of work that can get you into that [national] tournament as well.”

The Quakers look ahead to their season opener against La Salle at Franklin Field on Feb. 18.