HAVERFORD, Pa. – In a classic battle of Main Line powerhouses, the No. 9-ranked Haverford College men's lacrosse team defeated No. 11 Cabrini College, 9-8, Saturday afternoon at Swan Field. Haverford scored three unanswered goals in the final 7:10 to pull out the thrilling victory. Jason Leeds' goal with 1:10 remaining ended up being the game-winner. The victory was the first for new head coach Colin Bathory '99.
Haverford (1-0) was led by Max Hjelm's four goals and one assist. Travis Gregory added three goals and an assist. Zack Cohen and Leeds each scored a goal.
Casey Grugan scored three goals for Cabrini (1-1). Paul Skulski and Bobby Thorp both scored twice and Jordan Coeyman added one goal.
The Cavaliers jumped out to a 2-1 lead less than five minutes into the contest, but Gregory's second goal of the first period tied things up. After exchanging goals Hjelm put the Fords back on top, 4-3, midway through the second period. Grugan answered back less than a minute later, making the most of a man-advantage opportunity, to tie the score at 4-4 as it remained that way heading into halftime.
Gregory and Hjelm scored early goals in the third to establish a two-goal advantage for the Fords, but Cabrini came storming back. Four goals in less than 10 minutes spanning the end of the third period and into the fourth gave Cabrini a commanding 8-6 lead as the final period approached the 11-minute mark.
The experienced Fords never panicked and calmly began their comeback. With both teams playing a man-down, Hjelm scored with 7:31 showing on the clock to cut the deficit to one. Four minutes later Hjelm scored the game-tying goal on an assist from Gregory.
The Cavaliers won the ensuing faceoff and took two shots; the second was saved by Joe Banno. Haverford cleared with 2:29 on the clock and stalled for over a minute until Leeds' diving shot in front of the goal found the net with 1:10 left. Cabrini won the next faceoff and called a timeout. Out of the timeout Skulski got a good look, but Banno denied the shot and the Fords cleared with 15 ticks left.
Banno recorded 13 saves on the day while Erick Zarzecki made 14 stops for the Cavaliers.
The Fords are next in action when they play host to No. 19 Fairleigh-Dickinson Florham Wednesday evening at 7 p.m.