CORTLAND, N.Y. - The eighth-ranked Haverford College men's lacrosse team opened with a strong first period Saturday in non-conference action against St. Lawrence University, then finished off the Saints for a 7-4 victory.
The Fords (3-1) scored four times in the opening period as Phillip Valliant and Zack Cohen staked Haverford to a 4-1 lead over St. Lawrence (0-1).
Valliant notched an unassisted goal less than a minute after the opening face-off and just before the 11-minute mark, Cohen added his first of the day to push the Fords ahead by two.
Kyle Jacobsen cut the deficit in half for the Saints but Cohen, then Valliant each scored again to give the Fords a 4-1 advantage just 10-minutes into the game.
St. Lawrence tightened up its defense over the remainder of the game while the Fords and goalkeeper Joe Banno continued their strong play in the defensive zone. Each team scored one goal in each of the remaining periods but the opening rush from the Fords proved to be too much for the Saints to overcome.
Valliant finished with three goals, Cohen with two, and both Max Hjelm and Travis Gregory added one apiece in the neutral-site victory played at Cortland State. Jacobsen scored twice for the Saints who also got one goal each from two other players.
Banno was solid in goal for Haverford finishing with 10 saves and the victory. In the other cage, Jeff Goeke took the loss after surrendering seven goals and making 13 saves.
The teams finished the game fairly even in shots with the Fords owning a slight 41-37 edge, but Robert Breckinridge and John Schipper gave Haverford a decided advantage at the face-off dot. The pair combined to win 11-of-14 face-offs in the contest with Breckinridge winning 8-of-11 and Schipper winning all three of his opportunities.
Haverford takes to the field again Wednesday evening for another neutral-site outing. The Fords will square off against Skidmore College at 7 p.m. in Basking Ridge, N.J.