Men's Lacrosse Seeks to Improve Postseason Positioning

Things are firing up as the 2013 men’s lacrosse season comes to a close, and a spot in the Ivy League Championship is on the line. Harvard has three more games, all against league competitors, including Penn on Saturday at 1 p.m.

The Quakers (6-3, 2-2 Ivy) currently sit tied for third place in the Ancient Eight and 14th in the nation, recently moving up two spots in the rankings

The Crimson (5-6, 1-2) is tied for fifth in the conference but is not ranked nationally. Harvard is considered the underdog in Saturday’s matchup against its more highly-regarded opponent.

“It’s a big Ivy League game,” Harvard coach Chris Wojcik ’96 said. “All the Ivy League games are big, but this one especially because we’re in the same position in the league; we both have two losses.”

At stake for both teams is the Ivy League playoffs, for which only the top four teams in the standings qualify in the two-round series. The games will take place in the first week of May.

“This would be a big gain in terms of helping us qualify,” Wojcik added.

Both teams have not won this title for over 20 years.

As important as this game is for the Crimson, the signs are pointing to a Penn victory.

In the last three springs, the Quakers have defeated Harvard by a small margin, despite losing in the 2009 season, 11-4.

Penn has qualified for the NCAA tournament three times in the last decade, including the 2011 season. Harvard has only stepped into the tournament once in this millennium.

“I think, across the board, they bring a lot to the table,” captain Jason Gonos said. “I think they’re going to challenge us all over the field.”

Another indicator that the Quakers are favored to win in Saturday’s match is the results that have come from common competitors in this season. Penn’s performances in these games has been markedly more successful than those of the Crimson.

Penn opened its season with a statement, beating No. 7 Duke, 14-9, while weeks later in the season, the Crimson lost to the Blue Devils in a close game. The same pattern showed itself against Brown, which sits tied at fifth with Harvard in the Ivy League.

“[The Quakers] have proven that they can beat some of the best teams in the country,” Gonos said.

Penn won two other games against ranked teams, No. 18 Lehigh and No. 10 Princeton, whom Harvard will face next week.

The Crimson knows that this Ivy League game will be a challenge.

“They have athletic players in the midfield, smart players in the attack, and a solid goalie and solid face-offs,” Gonos said. “I think across the board, they bring a lot to the table, I think they’re going to challenge us all over the field.”

“They have a very salient fundamental defensive system,” Wojcik added. “We will have to really play strong offense to generate high quality shots against their defense.”

Despite the chances of a win for the Quakers, the home team is prepared for what they will bring to Cambridge on Saturday.

“We have a solid defensive foundation, and our goalies have been playing well all season,” Wojcik said. “We really have seen progress in our overall faceoffs. We really have seen a marked improvement offensively, especially in the last three weeks. We have been playing better and better in the last few weeks, and we’re looking to continue that.”

Harvard ended its three-game losing streak with a major win against Quinnipiac on Tuesday. The Crimson lost two very close games to teams in the top 10 in the nation in the past few weeks.

“Going into this game on Saturday, we’re just feeling good and, we know that we have the confidence that we know we can pull out the win,” Gonos said. “As long as we finish out a game, we know that we can really beat any team in the country.”

“We have been improving in every area of the field,” Wojcik said. “What we have been building off of with our performance and the quality of lacrosse has shown itself in how we have been playing in the past three games.”

The evidence shows that Harvard will have to fight hard for a victory against Penn. Important in the transition from the locker room to the field will be the right mentality.

“I think they main thing for us is just to focus on what we do, and play Harvard lacrosse,” Gonos said.