LANCASTER, Pa. - The Haverford College men's lacrosse team (2-6) dropped its Centennial Conference opener on Saturday, falling to the host Franklin & Marshall (5-1) by a score of 16-6. Haverford kept it close for the majority of the contest, but Skidmore pulled away in the final period.
Jacob Abraham started the game between the pipes and finished with a season-high 19 saves. Andrew Arth scored two goals while Reid Tietjen led the Fords with two assists.
The Fords scored the first goal of the game with 5:05 remaining in the period after Eric Dahlberg scored off the Reid Tietjen assist. Franklin & Marshall quickly tied the game up after both teams started to find their scoring touch.
F&M took the lead with 30 seconds remaining behind a goal from Christian Sullivan and then extended the lead to two after putting another in the back of the net with 4.3 seconds left in the period.
The Diplomats made it 4-1 at the start of the second period thanks to Cullen Decker who was able to beat Haverford goalkeeper Jacob Abraham. Abraham started the game with seven early saves and continues to be the bright spot for Haverford this season. However, his stellar saves couldn't keep the Fords within striking distance as the number of shots the Diplomats were getting was increasing more and more.
Franklin & Marshall extended their scoring run to five after scoring with 9:18 left in the second period. The hosts outshot the Fords 24-15 in the first 25 minutes of the contest and had no plans in letting off the gas. The Diplomats would score two more goals to make the score 7-1 before Haverford finally ended the drought with a goal from Will Graves with 39 seconds left. F&M added one more, beating the halftime buzzer to take an 8-2 lead into halftime.
Abraham had 12 saves in the first half after seeing his team get outshot 33-18. F&M also led the ground ball battle 25-10 and built their lead on the back of a 10-2 advantage on the faceoffs.
It wouldn't get any better for the Fords. The Diplomats opened up the second half with four unanswered goals. Haverford got their third goal of the contest at the 8:28 mark but still trailed 12-3. Sullivan then scored again for the hosts to close out the third period and take a ten-goal lead into the final period with the game in full control.
The final period ended with Haverford and F&M both scoring three goals to close out the game as Jason Borsari, Evan Wolpert, and Andrew Arth scored the final goals for the Fords.
Men's Lacrosse will next travel to Maryland to continue their Centennial Conference schedule against Washington College on Wednesday, March 29. Game time is slated for 7 p.m.