Phillylacrose.com, Posted 2/17/18
From Press Release
The Penn men’s lacrosse team got off to a slow start on Saturday afternoon at Franklin Field, but the 18th-ranked Quakers recovered and ultimately overtook Michigan, 12-9. The game was the season opener for the Red and Blue, while the Wolverines fell to 2-1 on the young season.
Senior captain Kevin McGeary (Malvern Prep) led the offensive charge for Penn, scoring four goals and dishing off one assist. Junior Simon Mathias added three goals, while Tyler Dunn scored twice.
Michigan scored the game’s first three goals, taking just 2:43 to do so as PJ Bogle, Rocco Sutherland and Alex Buckanavage all found the back of the net. Penn finally found the goal with 10:43 left in the period when Mathias scored an unassisted goal to extend his point-scoring streak to 29 games. That was followed two minutes later by a goal from long pole Connor Keating (Haverford School), and then McGeary found Joe Licciardi to level the score at 3-3.
The teams traded goals after that, Michigan scoring first each time only to be matched by, in order, Dunn, Mathias and McGeary. Mathias then used a cheeky move near the left post with 5:11 left in the first half to give the Quakers their first lead of the day at 7-6.
Penn never trailed again. Sean Lulley fired home a man-up goal off a Reilly Hupfeldt feed, and then after Michigan got back within a goal McGeary finished a nice play by Jared Warner in transition. Michigan again drew within one, but McGeary used a singular effort to make the score 10-8 after three quarters.
McGeary scored his fourth with 12:24 left in the fourth to make the score 11-8, before Michigan’s Kevin Mack scored with 7:36 to play to make it 11-9. That was it for the Wolverines, however, and Dunn capped the day with a nice move that left him alone in front.
Reed Junkin was originally scratched in the goal, but came on to start the second quarter and finished the day with seven saves after Alex deMarco (Haverford School) made three stops in the opening quarter.
Decker Curran had three goals to lead Michigan, while Kevin Mack had two goals and two assists and Buckanavage scored twice. Defenseman Nick DeCaprio (St. Augustine Prep) had two groundballs and a caused turnover and Chase Young (St. Joseph’s Prep) had a groundball and a caused turnover.