“Having Jake in goal, you know you can force them to just [take] outside shots,” Wannop said. “Something we pride ourselves on is having a strong defense. We take care of that end of the field, and hopefully good things happen on the other end.”

PENN 7, HARVARD 5

Fortunately for the Harvard men’s lacrosse team, there are no more trips to Pennsylvania on the schedule this season.

The Crimson dropped its Ivy League opener to Penn (4-3, 1-1) last Saturday in Philadelphia by a score of 7-5. Harvard’s only previous loss this season had come at the hands of Bucknell in Lewisburg, Pa.

The Crimson was hindered by a slow start which allowed the Quakers generate a 3-0 lead in the first quarter.

“We just came out flat and they jumped [out] to a lead,” Wannop said. “It’s something we need to work on. We’ve had trouble in road games in the past just not starting out well.”

A man-up goal by McBride with just six seconds remaining in the period pulled Harvard within two, but Penn would restore the three-goal cushion early in the second quarter.

The Quakers outshot the Crimson 9-5 in the first quarter, including a 7-3 advantage in shots on goal.

“We didn’t really bring it to the table,” Kane said. “Once we got behind, we really didn’t deal with that. We got our heads down and really didn’t bring the energy that we wanted to.”

Despite the early deficit, Harvard still had every chance to head back to Cambridge with a victory, as the Crimson only trailed by a score of 5-3 heading into the fourth quarter.

The Harvard rally was halted, however, by two Penn goals within the first minute and a half of action in the final period. Both goals came on man-up opportunities, as Gottschall and captain midfielder Alex Vap were sent to the box for unnecessary roughness and slashing penalties, respectively.

Goals by freshman midfielder Evan Calvert—the only Crimson player to record multiple points on the day—and Kane created the final margin.

Earlier in the game, Harvard managed to keep the score close thanks to a strong effort by its defense as well as stellar play by McKenna. McKenna finished the day with 11 saves, including 5 in a scoreless third period.

McKenna’s counterpart in net, the Quakers’ Ryan Kelly, posted even more impressive stats, as he stopped 10 of the 15 Crimson shots on goal. He was at his best in the second quarter, as the teams tallied two goals apiece despite a 14-3 shot advantage in favor of Harvard.

Freshman attackman Greg Cohen and senior attackman Anders Johnson recorded the second period goals for the Crimson.