COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – Christian Clay netted the game-winning goal with 1:37 left to play to give Haverford an 11-10 victory over Ursinus in a wild Centennial Conference men's lacrosse match Wednesday night.
The victory gives the Fords (10-3, 5-2 CC), ranked 13th in a nation, a spot in the upcoming conference tournament. The Fords will be either the second or third seed are guaranteed to face Gettysburg. Haverford closes out the regular season Saturday, April 23 at noon against visiting Swarthmore.
The game-winning goal capped a three-point night for Clay, who ended up with two goals and one assist. Phillip Valliant recorded a hat-trick. Travis Gregory and Myles Monaghan both contributed two goals and one assist. Jason Leeds added a goal and one assist.
The defense played well in front of goalie Joe Banno. The Fords forced a season-high 29 turnovers, eight of them were caused by Dillion Hamill. The eight caused turnovers ties the school record for most in game, which he set in against Washington on March 2010. Hamill added six ground balls.
Banno recorded nine saves to earn the victory.
Ursinus (8-5, 3-4 CC) got a pair of goals each from Jeff Ocampo and Pat Gillen. Josh Baker stopped 14 shots in goal for the Bears.
The Fords trailed 7-5 with 12 minutes left in the third quarter after the Bears scored three goals in a span of 17 seconds. Haverford responded by scoring four consecutive times to grab a 9-7 advantage with 2:33 left in the quarter. Valliant had two of the goals, one of them came in a man-up situation. The Fords took a 9-8 lead into the fourth quarter.
The two teams played to a four-all draw after a back-and-forth first half.