ST. DAVIDS, Pa. – The Haverford College men's lacrosse team was unable to solve a tough Eastern defense on Saturday afternoon during a 16-4 defeat. The Eagles shut down the Fords during the opening half before Haverford's attack was able to put four on the board during the second.
Sean Mowatt-Larssen scored a pair of goals for Haverford to give him six on the year in his first two games back. First-years Drew Hoffman and Ben Meyers also rattled the back of the cage for the first time in their young careers.
Eastern controlled the first half and led 7-0 after 30 minutes despite seven saves from Haverford's goalie contingent. Ethan Donlon got the start and made one save but had to come off after just 4:32 of playing time after causing a turnover and working the clear. That left the door open for Kyle Buseck to make his collegiate debut as the Fords' senior made nine saves during his nearly 52 minutes in the crease. Junior Joe Weisberg also made his Haverford debut to close out the remaining 3:32 in the fourth quarter as Weisberg stopped the only shot he faced during that limited time.
Despite the final score, Haverford trailed just 38-35 in shots at the end of 60 minutes. Those chances finally started to pay off as Mowatt-Larssen capitalized on an Eastern turnover to put his side on the board with 12:16 to play in the third quarter. Just over three minutes later, Mowatt-Larssen took advantage of a man-up situation as Blake Brinster fed him with 9:01 remaining in the quarter.
Haverford's first-year goal scorers capped the game with a pair of tallies during the final two minutes of regulation. Hoffman snipped his first career goal with 1:45 to play in regulation while Meyers tallied Haverford's second man-up goal of the afternoon with the assist from Mowatt-Larssen.
Thirteen saves from the Eastern goalies kept the Fords at bay for much of the afternoon while the Fords' goalies combined for 12 saves. Jonathan Frost led Haverford's defensive efforts with four of the Fords' nine caused turnovers. Gabe Moon also had three takeaways while Griffin Brooks recorded a pair of CTs. Tommy Dandino led the ground ball efforts with four, while Nate Ruhl and Moon each collected three. Ruhl was additionally 6-of-14 at the face-off X.
Men's lacrosse will be back on the road this coming Wednesday as the Fords travel to No. 19 Stevens for a 7 p.m. game under the lights in Hoboken, New Jersey.