HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College men's lacrosse team blitzed Stockton early on and built a 9-3 lead with five unanswered goals that spanned the second quarter through the opening minutes of the third. However, it was a late 6-0 run from the visitors that proved to be the difference as the visiting Ospreys scored with time expiring during a 10-9 come-from-behind victory on Swan Field Wednesday evening.
Isaac Krier led the Fords' early charge with four goals, while five other players also scored for the hosts. Stockton's rally was headed by three goals from Vincent Manasia and two goals from both Mike Caposella and Guy Loggi.
Haverford wasted little time in forcing the action early on. Just under three minutes into the game, Krier tallied his first goal of the evening. Two more quick strikes made it a 3-0 game as just over six minutes had come off the game clock. Stephen DeLeo scored off a pass from Andrew Dalke with 9:11 showing on the scoreboard. Just 21 seconds later, Zack Cohen picked up a ground ball and carried nearly three-quarters of the field for the unassisted tally.
Stockton got on the board for the first time at the 5:20 mark of the opening quarter with Manasia's first goal of the contest. Both he and Krier exchanged their respective second goals of the game at the 3:39 and 3:28 marks of the quarter to set the score at 4-2. Krier's second goal came off a feed from Kevin Goshorn. After answering Haverford's fourth goal just 11 seconds later, Stockton again wasted little time and made the game a one-goal difference just 31 seconds later with Caposella's first of the night.
Following the quick strike offense of the opening quarter, the second period belonged completely to Haverford. The Fords scored four times in the first six-plus minutes to carry an eventual 8-3 lead into the half. Krier completed his hat trick just 57 seconds into the second quarter, while Patrick Girard and Dalke tallied unassisted goals of their own exactly one minute apart. The final goal of the first half was Krier's seventh of the season. He took advantage of the extra-man chance when Rob McLallen found the Fords' top offensive threat in the early going. Haverford used very efficient shooting in the second quarter to hold the sizable advantage as the Fords scored on half of their eight shots during that span.
Haverford's lead reached a 9-3 advantage when Chase Williams tallied his first goal of the season just 1:27 into the third quarter. In the lowest scoring quarter of the evening, the Ospreys evened the score in the third quarter when Caposella got free with just over four minutes left in the period.
Still, the Fords' defense appeared poised to lock down on the Ospreys and come away with the second straight victory. Stockton's Ryan Bradley scored with 8:09 left in regulation. His goal marked just the second time all game that Haverford did not answer Stockton's goal. However, the Fords were still up 9-5 midway through the fourth.
Nonetheless, four goals from the Ospreys in a span of 3:30 of playing time set the game at nine-all with 2:18 to play. The Ospreys won the ensuing faceoff, but a caused turnover from Justin Brendel and subsequent ground ball pickup from Max Ellis allowed Haverford to call a timeout. The Fords got a shot out of the break that was saved by Stockton's Pat Quinn. The Ospreys went on to score the eventual game-winning goal as time expired following an initial shot that traveled wide of the net with 8.4 seconds showing on the game clock.
After three straight home games to start the season, men's lacrosse will next head out on the road to battle FDU-Florham on Saturday. That contest is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start.