US Lacrosse Magazine released the Nike/US Lacrosse Division I Men’s Preseason Top 20 on Jan. 8. Team-by-team previews will be unveiled on uslaxmagazine.com throughout January and will also appear as part of the magazine’s NCAA preview edition that mails to US Lacrosse members Feb. 1 — opening day of the 2018 college lacrosse season.

No. 17 Penn

Coach: Mike Murphy (9^th season)
All-Time Record: 491-610-9

NCAA Appearances: 12
Final Fours: 1
Championships: 0
2017 Record: 7-6 (3-3)

Penn coach Mike Murphy admits that his team hasn’t been among the recent powers in the Ivy League. He’s watched as teams like Cornell, Princeton and Yale have fielded star-studded rosters and advanced deep into the NCAA tournament.

The dominant Ivy League teams of the past continued their success for years — a type of consistency for which Murphy and his Quakers program are striving. On the heels of a 7-6 season in 2017, Murphy feels like his team is headed in the right direction.

Penn enters the 2018 season with all but one player that scored a point last year, highlighted by leading scorers in attackman Simon Mathias and midfielder Kevin McGeary. Virtually every contributor on offense returns under assistant Pat Myers, who enters his fourth season as the offensive coordinator — a lengthy term for this program.

“It’s the first time in my nine years at Penn that we’ve been in this position,” Murphy said of the returning talent and staff. “We had to make cuts this year. We ended up cutting a returning player because he didn’t come back in great shape. We didn’t have enough lockers, so there was competition in every position."

The Quakers’ once-youthful offense has now grown into one with a heavy veteran presence, and one that likes to spread the wealth. Nine players eclipsed 10 points for the Penn offense in 2017.

All indications are that the Quakers will take a step forward in their offensive production, with the wealth of talent returning and a strong freshman class, which includes attackman Jack Schultz and 6-foot-6 middie Mitch Bartolo, who could contribute immediately.

“Our attack seems better. All three of them — Simon Mathias, Kevin McGeary and Adam Goldner — have all seemed to have taken a step forward,” Murphy said. “The offensive players on this team really only know one playbook and one offensive coach in their time here. It all lends itself to helping productivity on the offensive end.”

As long as holes on the defense, led by third-team All-American Connor Keating, can be filled by players like Mike Mulqueen, a healthy Noah Lejman (missed 2017 with injury) and other contributors, Penn could be looking at a more-than-competitive season.

The Ivy League will feature a wealth of talent across the board, but if there’s a time that Penn might make its move to the top of the league, it could be now.

The Case For Penn

It’s hard to ignore all of the pieces that are coming back for this team. Almost every player from the offense is back, including leading scorers Simon Mathias and Kevin McGeary. It wasn’t a dominant offense by any stretch last season, but it was far from the worst. With another year under their belts, Penn’s veterans could take a big step forward. Not to mention, many of their Ivy League counterparts lost key pieces, like Brown with Dylan Molloy and Princeton with Zach Currier and Gavin McBride.

The Case Against Penn

There are still a few question marks that surround this team. Murphy isn’t shy about the fact that he wants to see more consistency out of his faceoff and goalie positions. That means players like Chris Santangelo (52.8 percent FO) and goalies Reed Junkin and Alex DeMarco will have to step up for this team to succeed. Not to mention, the Quakers have to replace two starters on defense.

Path to the Playoffs

The easiest way for Penn to make it to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2014 is to win the Ivy League. However, with teams like Yale, Princeton and Cornell lurking, that task will be daunting. The Quakers certainly challenged themselves with the nonconference schedule, traveling to Maryland and welcoming Duke and Penn State in fewer than two weeks. If Penn can win one of those games, an at-large bid could be in play. Matchups with Michigan, Bucknell and Saint Joseph’s seem like must-wins for this team to get an at-large bid.

Players To Watch

Simon Mathias, A, Jr.
28 G, 20 A

Mathias is the leader of the attack unit, topping the team in goals (28) and points (48) in 2017. With the whole offense back, expect those numbers to increase.

Kevin McGeary, M, Sr.
23 G, 12 A

McGeary is back for his senior year after finishing second on the team in goals and points. He’s started every game for the Quakers since the end of 2015 and he’ll look to share the load on offense in 2018.

Connor Keating, D, Sr.
10 G, 61 GB

Keating leads the Penn defense, which will look to fill a couple starting holes this season. Keating is a two-time first-team All-Ivy selection and made the third-team All-American list for the USILA.

National Rankings

Power Ratings (Scale of 1-5)

Offense
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Defense
⭐⭐⭐

Goalkeeping
⭐⭐⭐

Faceoff
⭐⭐

99.5

Percent of Penn’s scoring that returns for the 2018 season. The only player that scored a point for the Quakers last season and is not returning is Kevin Brown, who recorded a lone assist. This team returns virtually all of its offense and adds a few freshmen that can contribute.

5-Year Trend
Assists Per Game

Coach Confidential
Mike Murphy

“We just want to find out how good we can be as a program and as a team and keep raising the bar in terms of how hard we practice, how hard we shoot. We think we can compete at the highest level, but what does that mean exactly? How do you measure that? For us, it’s about improvement.”

Enemy Lines
Rival Coaches

“Surprise team here.  They were young last year.  If they can figure out how to defend with a young defensive core, they can score with anyone. ... They have everyone back. It’s kind of a scary thing. ... They return everyone. They have the preseason six [in the Ivy League], which is crazy. They do not lose anyone. They’ve got a veteran coaching staff with Mike Murphy and Pat Myers. Those dudes know how to coach. They’ll be dangerous. And they’ve got some big-time defensive players.”