The men's lacrosse team's woes continued last Saturday in Philadelphia with a 15-12 loss to the University of Pennsylvania.
The loss dropped the Big Green to 1-4 overall and 0-1 in the Ivy League, leaving them tied with Brown and ahead of Yale in the bottom of the Ivy standings.
Penn got off to a quick start, but the game was relatively even for the first three quarters. Penn had a slight edge in both shots, 46-44, and ground balls, 36-35.
"The game stayed pretty close the whole way," said sophomore goalie Andrew Dance, who had 15 saves on the day. "We got behind in the very beginning and never evened it up."
Dartmouth senior midfielder Brian Merritt's fifth goal brought the Big Green within one goal, 11-10, with 8:30 left to play.
Unfortunately, the Quakers answered with 3-1 run in the last minutes of the game, outdistancing the Big Green and putting the game out of reach.
"We weren't able to capitalize on our opportunities," Dance said.
Merritt, who entered the game with 20 points, had five goals to lead the team on the day, while sophomore Brandon Henry had a hat trick.
"Merritt and Brandon had their best games," Dance said.
Dartmouth showed its offensive depth as well -- with goals from members of all four classes -- as senior Scott Watts, junior John Whelen, sophomore Gary Stern and freshman Gregg Edell each had single goals.
Penn freshman Peter Janney -- last week's Ivy League Rookie of the Week -- was particularly dangerous, with four goals and three assists to lead the Quakers.
Despite the loss, Dance said the team is improving every week.
"It was definitely our best team effort as of yet," he said. "It seems like every week we improve on the things we did wrong the week before, which is a positive sign."
The Big Green will open their home season next week on Saturday, April 12, against Cornell University.
