By Ted Rawlings
Karin Brower Corbett begins this decade as the Penn women’s lacrosse head coach with a much different feel than she did to start the previous one.
Hired in 2000, Corbett had the tall task of leading a program that had defeated just one opponent in the previous season.
Now, ten years later, it’s a hyperbolic understatement to say she has succeeded. On Saturday, her Quakers begin their 2010 campaign ranked third in the nation. The tall task this year: defend their three straight Ivy League titles, return to the final four for the fourth consecutive season, and ultimately win a national championship.
Clearly, the bar has been set high. Raising the bar, however, has been something Corbett’s done since she first arrived at Penn. The first step began with changing the culture.
“They needed to learn how to win,” Corbett said. “We added teams we could beat so we could learn how to win.”
Scheduling easier games wasn’t her only ingredient. A revamped culture included the installation of hard work, consequences and discipline.
“It’s a sacrifice and privilege to play on Penn’s lacrosse team and there’s a responsibility,” she said. “They have to respect the uniform, wear it with pride. And they have to respect each other.”
Accountability and responsibility were not just requirements of the players. From the beginning of her tenure at Penn, Corbett has held herself and her staff to those same standards.
“Our job as a coaching staff is to make them better and to figure out how to reach a player in order to make them better,” said Corbett of her duties. “You have to own up when you don’t do well. It shows credibility to the kids.”
Now, with a new culture and Penn’s ascension to the top of the women’s lacrosse mountain, Corbett has been able to recruit higher-level prospects to play for the Quakers. There was a time, though, when convincing high school girls to play lacrosse at Penn wasn’t even the most significant challenge. Instead, between the historic struggles of the program and a past perception of Philadelphia, Corbett initially struggled to even have prospects come look at Penn.
“I didn’t expect [that] challenge…when I first got here,” Corbett said. “Now, kids will come because we are good. They are automatically interested to play for a good program.”
Corbett is also able to attract the game’s most valued prospects because of the “fabulous” work of the athletic department, led by Athletic Director Steve Bilsky.
“They allowed me to play [teams] I wanted to play, gave me the opportunity to recruit and to fundraise,” said Corbett.
Even with Penn’s increased recognition, Corbett still targets specific characteristics of prospects. Of course, speed, height, vision, competitiveness and a high lacrosse IQ are invaluable. Corbett, however, also values the intangibles and players who prioritize lacrosse right below their education.
“Lacrosse really is a job and we need to get kids who feel it is that important,” she said, before adding “and we want players who want to be coached.”
And, starting with the 2006 class, which she cites as the group that “planted the seed,” Corbett has successfully found those players. It was that class, too, that paved the way for Penn’s first visit to the final four in the following year, 2007. That same season, Corbett was named the National Coach of the Year.
Unfortunately, the Quakers were dismantled by eventual champion Northwestern, 12-2. Yet, it was the blowout, Corbett believes, that drove them in 2008.
“They were going to show everyone it wasn’t a Cinderella team,” said Corbett of her 2008 squad. “They worked really hard and proved that they weren’t.”
The proof: an 11-7 regular-season victory over the top team in the nation, Northwestern, and a second place finish in the NCAA tournament, losing to the same Northwestern team, 10-6 in the title game.
Then, last season, the Quakers reached even higher heights, winning their third consecutive Ivy League championship and finishing the season ranked second in the country. Only Northwestern, who defeated the Quakers in triple OT in the semifinal, were better all year.
This most recent and sustained success is as much about chemistry as it is the hard work.
“They really believe each class needs to leave the team better than it was when they came … They foster friendships and don’t have class lines,” said Corbett of her players. “They want to push each other and they want to win for each other.”
This current senior class, led by four co-captains – Ali Deluca, Barb Seaman, Emma Spiro and Emily Szelest – has only experienced success. Losses have been few and very far between. In their three previous years, they’ve lost to only Stanford and Northwestern. Additionally, they’ve been to three final fours and one national championship game.
“They understand that because we’ve been so good every year that they have to win,” said Corbett of the class of 2010. “They’ve done a great job leading this team and an amazing job trying to leave the team better. I am very proud of them for really wanting to keep Penn up there after they leave.”
If they help the Quakers accomplish their goal – to win a national championship – then they will have left Penn as high as it could possibly be.
And the decade is only beginning.
