HAVERFORD, Pa. - The Haverford College men's lacrosse team (2-5) dropped its contest on Saturday, falling to the visiting Skidmore College Thoroughbreds (5-1) by a score of 10-5 on Swan Field. Haverford kept it close for the majority of the contest, but Skidmore pulled away in the final period.
The Fords were led by Peter Christians, who finished the game with a hat-trick of goals on nine attempts. Andrew Arth scored the only other goals for the Fords, recording two goals and one assist on the afternoon.
Skidmore scored the opening four goals of the contest, leaving Haverford scoreless in the opening 20 minutes of action. Skidmore grabbed two quick goals in the first period from Brian Gonsalves and then goals in succession from Jon Bouvier and Matthew McFadden. With five minutes remaining until halftime, the Fords finally got on the board as Tyler Vendetti found a cutting Arth, who left no doubt with his shot.
Two minutes later, Christians scored his first goal of the game on a feed from Reid Tietjen. The Fords found themselves with a manageable two-goal deficit. Skidmore attempted 23 shots in the first half and could have been up by much more if it weren't for Jacob Abraham in goal. Abraham recorded 12 saves in the first half and finished with 18 in the contest overall.
With a minute remaining in the half, Skidmore took a 5-2 lead thanks to a goal from Jack Doherty.
Haverford started to get good looks at the goal in the second half but Skidmore goalie Collin Kuester performed well between the pipes for the visitors. With the Fords struggling to score, Skidmore put another in the back of the net at the 12:51 mark of the third period. However, Haverford pulled one back shortly after with a goal from Peter Christians as the assist went to Arth.
The two teams traded goals once again later in the third as Skidmore got a goal from Bouvier with an immediate answer from Arth. The third came to a close with Skidmore holding onto a three-goal advantage.
Another long scoring drought from the Fords gave the Thoroughbreds all they needed to pull away from the Fords in the final period. Skidmore scored two unanswered goals before a Haverford last-ditch goal, but in the end, the visitors outscored Haverford 3-1 in the period to close the game out.
The Fords' final goal came from Christians, as he completed his hat trick. A multitude of Fords was called into action for Face-offs but the hosts lost that battle, winning six of the 18 duels at the X. Senior Nate Rose led the Fords in ground balls, finishing the game with three.
Men's Lacrosse will next travel to Lancaster for their Centennial Conference opener against Franklin & Marshall on Saturday, March 25. Game time is slated for 3 p.m.