SWARTHMORE, Pa. – Zack Cohen's game-winner five minutes into the final period allowed the Haverford College men's lacrosse team to take a 7-6 Centennial Conference win from host Swarthmore College Saturday afternoon in the regular season finale for both squads.
Haverford (9-5, 5-3 CC) will head into the conference tournament semifinal next Friday, against 5th-ranked Dickinson College (14-1, 7-1 CC), riding a four-game win streak. Swarthmore's season ends with a 4-9 mark overall and a 1-7 record in the league.
Travis Gregory got the Fords up on the board first with the opening period's only goal, coming off an assist from Max Hjelm.
The teams alternated goals until Haverford scored three unanswered to move ahead 5-2 early in the third period, but Swarthmore stormed back with four consecutive goals to forge a 6-5 lead heading into the final frame.
Eighty-three seconds into the last period Myles Monaghan netted the tying goal setting the stage for Cohen's winning tally at the 4:58 mark of the stanza.
The Fords held the advantage in nearly every statistical category — 36-31 in shots, 29-22 in ground balls, 2-for-5 in extra-man opportunities compared to 0-for-4 by the Garnet — but Swarthmore's Kevin Friedenberg kept the home team in the game finishing with 11 saves. Haverford's Joe Banno earned the win in goal with eight saves.
Cohen and Hjelm led the Fords' offensive attack with two goals apiece while Andrew Kim joined Monaghan and Gregory with one goal in the rivalry victory.
Six different players scored for the Garnet in defeat.
Haverford's semifinal game against the Red Devils next Friday, played at Gettysburg College, will give the Fords a chance to wash away the sour taste left from a 9-8 loss during the regular season. Trailing 8-5 with less than nine minutes to play, host Dickinson scored four unanswered goals to steal the win from the visiting Scarlet and Black.
The men's lacrosse win over Swarthmore culminates a Saturday that leaves Haverford ahead by an 11-5 margin in the Hood Trophy standings between the two institutions. Earlier in the day the softball teams split a doubleheader at Haverford.
The only sports that remain to be tallied into the Hood 'count' are men's and women's outdoor track & field. The Hood has been clinched by Haverford but the final two points will be decided next weekend at the Centennial Conference outdoor track & field championship hosted by Swarthmore.