CARLISLE, Pa. – In a Centennial Conference match-up between a pair of nationally-ranked men's lacrosse teams, Haverford College's ninth-ranked Fords fell just short in a 9-8 loss to No. 11 Dickinson College Saturday afternoon.
Haverford (7-3, 2-2 CC) battled back to within one of the Red Devils (9-1, 3-0) in the final 98 seconds behind goals from Travis Gregory and Will Sangree.
Dickinson won the faceoff after Sangree got one behind Red Devils goalie Greg Hanley with 36 seconds remaining and drove into the Fords' defensive third of the field, but Dillon Hamill caused a turnover with 20 seconds remaining to give Haverford life.
Sangree got off a shot with five ticks remaining that Hanley saved then Max Hjelm got off one final shot to beat the horn, but Hanley added another save to his total of 13 on the day to preserve the win for his Red Devil teammates.
Haverford led 2-1 after the opening period then pushed the lead to 3-1 when Jason Leeds opened the second stanza with a goal. Dickinson rallied, though, and scored four unanswered markers over the final 6:29 of the period to take a 5-3 lead into the intermission.
Hjelm cut the lead to one early in the third but Dickinson scored twice in retaliation for the only goals of the period.
The Haverford fireworks didn't take long to get going in the fourth as Hjelm cut into Dickinson's three-goal lead with a goal, his second of the day, just 12 seconds after the opening faceoff. The teams traded goals over the next three minutes setting up the wild finish.
Hjelm, Leeds and Gregory led the Haverford offensive attack scoring two goals apiece in the loss. Hamill, Alexander Douglas and Scott Kelley keyed the squad defensively as each registered a pair of caused turnovers.
In goal for the Fords, Joe Banno finished with 15 saves including six during Dickinson's offensive second period.
The Fords, who had won consecutive games heading into Saturday's contest, will try to get back on the winning track Wednesday night when Muhlenberg College visits for a 7 p.m. conference match-up under the lights at Swan Field.