NCAA Men's Lacrosse Preview: No. 12 Penn's Quest for Balance

USA Lacrosse Magazine is beginning its countdown to Feb. 1 — the first day of the 2025 men's lacrosse season — by releasing one team preview per day beginning on Monday, Jan. 13.

We continue the countdown with No. 12 Penn, a team that head coach Mike Murphy is confident will be his most talented in years.

Penn was the first team left out of the NCAA tournament in 2024, and a strong core of returning players is determined not to let that happen again.

The Quakers return All-American caliber players in defender Brendan Lavelle and goalie Emmet Carroll. Cam Rubin leads an offense that returns seven of its top eight scorers, but being more dynamic on attack was one of the focuses coming back this year, along with improving the faceoff and rope unit.

“We’ve made strides in all three of those areas,” Murphy said. “I’m sure something else will be less consistent than we want, but I do feel much more confident about those three places.”

Forster, a new assistant, has worked with the attack to find an effective blend of newcomers and returners. Mac Eldridge has come back stronger and was dominant at the faceoff X in the fall.

Moving Matt Till from close defense to SSDM deepens the rope unit that will also use Tyler Kuehl, Paul vanBastelaar, Ryan McLaughlin and Pasha Hakimi.

“This is as balanced a team as we’ve had probably,” Murphy said. “I don’t think we have a weakness. I haven’t been able to say that in a while.”

TOP RETURNERS

Emmet Carroll, G, Sr. (.594 SV%, 10.82 GAA)
Brendan Lavelle, D, Sr. (49GB, 18CT)
Cam Rubin, M, Sr. (31G, 4A)

Fifth-year seniors Carroll and Lavelle anchor the defense, while Rubin is the top returning scorer at the other end. The first-team All-Ivy Leaguer’s production has gone up each of the past three seasons. Rubin’s move from attack to midfield last year gave him more space to operate and opened options for others inside and for himself.

“He’s just such a good shooter from range that you have to get out to him,” Murphy said. “And then if you don’t get out to him really well, he’s going to go by you, and he can shoot right-handed.”

KEY ADDITIONS

Nate Lucchesi, M, Fr. (37G, 22A)
Chris Patterson, A, So. (26G, 6A at Hobart)
Dante Vardaro, D, Fr. (56GB, 42CT)  

Penn wants to be more dangerous on the offensive end, and Lucchesi and Patterson will help. While Lucchesi is adjusting to the college game after a stellar career at nearby Radnor (Pa.) High School, Patterson proved himself a capable scorer in his first college season at Hobart. Among his freshman performances last year was a hat trick against Syracuse, a two-goal game against Cornell and four goals against UMass.

“He’s beating guys off the dribble, and so he’s a hard cover,” Murphy said. “He’s two-handed. It’s hard to imagine that he does that against teams like that and then doesn’t perform that way for us.”

NOTABLE DEPARTURES

Graduations: Chris Arceri, FO; Edward Arnold, D; Peter Blake, D; Gabe Furey, M; Matt Palazzi, M; Robert Schain, A; James Shipley, M

X-FACTOR

Davis Provost, A, So. (7G, 1A)

Provost was limited to eight games as a freshman, a year after he couldn’t play as a high school senior.

“He was in and out all the time and never really got into a groove, never really gained confidence,” Murphy said. “But he’s in a different place now.”

The Quakers didn’t have Rubin on the field this fall, but Provost was their most consistently productive attackman. Murphy expects that Provost’s emergence will draw opponents’ No. 1 defender this year, “which will make Tynan Walsh’s life a lot easier, and Ben Smith’s as well.”

THE NARRATIVE

Penn’s lofty expectations for this season are centered on being more balanced. The Quakers return a stellar defense and focused in the offseason on developing other facets to improve their chances.

“Like 10 years ago, you could win national championships with defense alone,” Murphy said. “And now I think you need to be able to score goals and play defense to be able to make a run in May.”

Penn ranked 49th in the country in scoring and 56th in faceoff winning percentage last year. The Quakers scored more than 11 goals in only three games, and they averaged just 9.12 goals per game in their losses. Provost and fellow sophomore Leo Hoffman will play bigger roles for an offense that returns Rubin, Smith and Walsh along with Griffin Scane and Luke DiNola.

“It’s certainly a high-impact attack that people are going to have to cover,” Murphy said. “Our midfield is good, our rope unit is now good, we’re good at facing off, we’re good at close defense, we’re good in the goal.”

The Quakers are striving for more consistency overall. They have pushed a recommitment to fundamentals and emphasized winning the little battles at each level.

“If we can keep our focus on those things and let the results take care of themselves, I think we will be more consistent,” Murphy said. “And if so, I think we’ll hopefully win more games.”