2024 NCAA Lacrosse Preview: No. 17 Penn (Men)

The 2024 Division I men's college lacrosse season kicks off February 2. As is our annual tradition, we’re featuring every team ranked in the USA Lacrosse Preseason Top 20 in the lead up to opening night. Check back to USALaxMagazine.com each weekday this month for new previews, scouting reports and rival analysis.

NO. 17 PENN

2023 record: 7-6 (4-2 Ivy League)   
Final ranking (2023): No. 13   
Head coach: Mike Murphy (96-80 in 14 seasons at Penn; 160-121 in 21 seasons overall)   
Assistants: Mike Abbott (offensive coordinator), Casey Ikeda (defensive coordinator), Doug Knight

There’s no sugar-coating it: Penn won’t have a force on its offense that commands as much attention as the graduated Sam Handley did.

That reality doesn’t mean the Quakers can’t — or won’t — be dangerous once they find themselves on the offensive end.

Handley and Dylan Gergar (who was limited to four games last season because of injury but was a vital leadership presence even from the sidelines) were Penn’s knowns the last few years. The Quakers won’t be quite as old on offense, a fact further reinforced during the fall when it was juniors such as Luke DiNola, Ben Smith and Tynan Walsh who were among the most veteran presences.

“Ben Smith really started to step into that role in the last half of the fall and became more of a vocal leader, emotional leader,” coach Mike Murphy said. “[He and Gergar] are similar personalities. Both of them are very positive and gregarious. Almost getting that offensive personality back is helpful, and we don’t have a ton of seniors down there.”

While Murphy was particularly impressed with Walsh’s physical transformation after an 11-goal, 13-assist season while playing hurt in 2023, he sees some strength in numbers in the midfield. Some were mainstays last year (Cam Rubin, James Shipley, Robert Schain and Gabe Furey). Others (including but far from limited to Casey Mulligan, Griffin Scane and freshmen Leo Hoffman, the latter who missed the fall with injury) don’t have the same track record at the college level.

“I do think there’s no shortage of people who can step up,” Murphy said. “I don’t think any one person will try to score however many points Sam scored last year, but I think doing it by committee and being a little bit more evenly distributed in terms of their contributions in the midfield might make us better.”

TOP RETURNERS

Emmet Carroll, G, Sr. (11.16 GAA, .549 SV%)   
Brendan Lavelle, D, Sr. (25 GB, 8 CT)   
Ben Smith, A, Jr. (27 G, 7 A)

If Penn’s defense is ahead of its offense much of the year, no one should be surprised. With all three close defense starters and a proven goalie back, it’s to be expected. Lavelle is one of the Ivy League’s top defenders, and he’ll be joined by three-year starter Peter Blake and junior Ethan Till. Carroll, meanwhile, had at least 10 stops in every game last season and posted a .624 save percentage in the Quakers’ final four contests.

“He’s very good,” Murphy said. “We’ve had a bunch of All-America goalies here, most recently Patrick Burkinshaw and Reed Junkin before that and Brian Feeney before that. He’s every bit as good as those guys, and he’s had a very good fall for us. It’s such an important position, to have that as an area of strength is certainly comforting for me, especially as we find our way offensively with the loss of Gergar and Handley.”

KEY ADDITIONS

Mac Eldridge, FO, So. (.449 FO%, 6 GB at Virginia)   
Leo Hoffman, M, Fr. (Brunswick School, Conn.)   
Jacob Pacheco, SSDM, Fr. (Boys’ Latin, Md.)

The Quakers ranked just 58th nationally in faceoff percentage (.452), ahead of only Harvard in the Ivy League. Making a push for Eldridge, a lauded class of 2022 recruit who attempted only 69 faceoffs while backing up Petey LaSalla at Virginia last season, should help remedy that. Look for Eldridge, incumbent starter Chris Arceri (.496) and sophomore Ethan Costanzo (.377) to provide mix-and-match options.

“They’re all pretty distinctive,” Murphy said. “Mac is more traditional, big, athletic, good clamper and can kind of impose his will. Chris is working in some different moves and counters. Ethan has lightning-quick hands. It’s nice to have a multifaceted approach to it.”

NOTABLE DEPARTURES

Graduations: Piper Bond, SSDM; BJ Farrare, LSM; Dylan Gergar, A; Sam Handley, M

X-FACTOR

Tyler Kuehl, LSM, Jr. (11 GB, 3 CT)

The unit that took the greatest graduation hit for the Quakers was the defensive midfield. Indefatigable short stick Piper Bond (33 GB, 7 CT) was a long-term mainstay, as was long pole BJ Farrare (33 GB, 8 CT). Penn’s reliance on two-way middies means there’s added value placed on a short stick that can do damage going from defense to offense. Enter Kuehl, who is poised to absorb an expanded role at pole after a strong fall.

“He was behind BJ for two years and waited his turn, and now he’s really stepped up and been a force in the middle of the field for us — on the defensive end, on the faceoff wings and in transition,” Murphy said.

THE NARRATIVE

It feels like an annual tradition that Penn is going to pick off a brand name in non-conference play.

Some of it stems from repeated victories over Duke (2011, 2013, 2018, 2020 and 2022), but the Quakers have also knocked off tournament-bound teams from Denver (2010 and 2014), North Carolina (2012), and Georgetown (2023) during Murphy’s tenure.

Is there some sort of secret sauce to having a team sharp at the start of the season? Or is the scheduling philosophy — one that ensures Penn never has to worry about being dinged for playing a soft non-conference slate — primarily responsible, under the premise that a talented team offered several high-end opportunities will invariably win one or two?

It might be the latter. Taking nothing away from Penn’s improved talent level over the last decade — which earned it NCAA quarterfinal appearances in 2019 and 2022 — but a high-profile opponent on opening day ensures the Quakers never think of comfortably easing into a season.

“Knowing we open with Georgetown on Feb. 17, it gets their attention in the offseason, knowing we’re not walking up into our schedule,” Murphy said. “We’re starting out with a very established playoff team. We’re constantly working to overcome the Ivy League limitations in terms of how many practices we can have, when we can start them and that’s when it’s really important for these guys to be somewhat entrepreneurial about it.”

ENEMY LINES   
WHAT RIVALS ARE SAYING ABOUT THE QUAKERS

“It’ll be interesting to see what they do with their attack. Does the loss of Handley help? Obviously in the midfield, uber-athletic. Unbelievable sticks and IQ at the attack position. Defensively, Brendan Lavelle probably doesn’t get enough credit for what he does. Emmet Carroll is a very good goalie. I think that’s another team that probably has something to prove a little bit. I think they’re going to be really good, too.”

“Tough. Dangerous. Well-coached. Tough defensively.”

BEYOND THE BASICS   
POWERED BY LACROSSE REFERENCE

 Penn’s schedule is a gauntlet. The 2024 lineup projects as the second toughest based on the LaxElo rating of its opponents. In the simulations, Penn wins an average of 7.1 games against 5.9 losses. It’s a tough enough schedule that a .500 record would put them squarely in the bubble debate come Selection Sunday.

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