MANHASSET, N.Y. - The Haverford College men's lacrosse team suffered their first defeat of the young season Saturday afternoon in an 8-6 loss to 19th-ranked St. Lawrence University in a non-conference match-up played at Manhasset High School on Long Island.
The No. 8 Fords (2-1) held a 3-2 halftime lead but were out scored 6-3 by the Saints (1-0) over the final two periods.
The opening 15-minute period belonged to Haverford as the Fords out shot SLU by a 10-5 margin and jumped out to a 2-0 lead on scores from Max Cassidy and Max Hjelm.
After a Saints tally cut the lead in half early in the second, Hjelm struck again with his second of the game and ninth of the season to push the lead back to two.
Though Haverford would allow just one goal, late, in the remaining minutes of the period and take a one-goal lead into halftime, SLU had begun to turn momentum in its favor generating 13 shots compared to only three by the Fords in the second stanza.
Jason Leeds pushed Haverford to a 4-2 lead on a goal less than a minute into the third period but St. Lawrence roared back with four unanswered goals over a 12 minute span that stretched into the fourth period.
Now down two after holding the lead for the game's first 36 minutes, Haverford needed to find a spark to halt the SLU flood.
A penalty -- Haverford's sixth of the game -- put the Fords a man down but Myles Monaghan scored a goal that brought Haverford to within one and with almost nine minutes remaining on the game clock.
A pair of SLU goals in under three minutes ultimately broke the backs of the Fords though Andrew Kim notched his third of the season at the 12:48 mark of the fourth to bring Haverford back to within two.
Penalties hurt Haverford as it committed seven in the game while St. Lawrence only provided the Fords with one man-up opportunity. The Saints twice scored while on the man-advantage.
Twenty turnovers also did their damage to Haverford as did a third period where the Fords out shot SLU by a 9-4 margin but were out scored 3-1.
Goalkeeper Joe Banno registered 13 saves for Haverford in taking the loss while his counterpart at the other end of the field, Andrew Cochran, finished with 11 saves in the win.
The Fords will have a chance to get back on the winning side of the ledger quickly as they'll head to York, Pa., for a non-conference tilt against York College Wednesday afternoon at 12:30 p.m.