HAVERFORD, Pa. – Ethan Donlon has been named the Centennial Conference Player of the Week after recording 23 saves during Haverford's 12-9 win against No. 10 Dickinson on Saturday. Donlon, who was making just his second career start, earned his first player of the week recognition after stopping 71.9% of the shots on goal he faced. Donlon is the second player on the men's lacrosse team to earn the defensive award this season after fellow goalie Dylan Slack was named Centennial Conference Defensive Player of the Week back in early March.
Donlon's 23 saves marked the second-most in program history this century. Only John Michals '04, who made 30 saves during a 2004 Centennial Conference contest against Franklin & Marshall, has come up with more saves since the year 2000. That total is also the fifth-highest in school history during a Centennial Conference contest with the majority of those previous records coming during the 1990s.
Those saves proved crucial in the Fords' 12-9 victory over the nationally-ranked Red Devils as Haverford recorded its first win against a ranked opponent since the 2017 season. The win was also the program's highest ranked win since Haverford beat then-No. 7 Dickinson in the second round of the NCAA Tournament during the 2010 season when the Fords captured their first-ever Centennial Conference Championship.
Anchoring a strong defensive effort all the way around, Donlon was called on to make 14 saves during the opening half, seven in each quarter, before denying nine more attempts during the second half. Haverford was down 6-2 early in the second quarter before running off three separate three-goal runs throughout the remainder of the game. The Fords took the lead for good with 3:25 to play in the third quarter on a goal from Stephen DeLeo that made the score 9-8 and never looked back. DeLeo was one of three players who recorded hat tricks for the Fords' attack on Saturday.
Back in the playoff hunt after this weekend's huge victory, the Fords return to Centennial Conference play this week with two contests. Up first will be a trip to Washington College on Wednesday under the lights of Chestertown at 7 p.m. Haverford returns to Swan Field this Saturday for a 12 p.m. start against No. 8 Gettysburg.