HAVERFORD, Pa. - The Haverford College Men's lacrosse team (6-6, 2-2 CC) dropped a heartbreaking conference contest to Ursinus (6-5, 2-1) in overtime Saturday, in front of a big crowd on Swan Field.
The matchup was part of the Centennial Conference's week-long green out games for mental health, in collaboration with The Hidden Opponent.
The Centennial Conference's leading scorer Reid Tietjen continued his offensive prowess in Saturday's contest, pacing Haverford in goals with three and assists with two. Ronan West collected seven ground balls, while eight different Fords recorded one caused turnover.
Drew Buck went 11-20 from the faceoff X, while Teddy Carlin and Ronan West came away with a faceoff win each. In between the pipes, Jacob Abraham denied 11 Ursinus shots, while scooping up one ground ball.
Scott Sloan and the visiting Bears struck first at the 10:18 mark, only for Haverford to level the game at 6:58 with a goal from Matt Richards. Ursinus then went up 3-1 after back-to-back goals from Harry Sweitzer and Aidan Kirk, before the Fords scored two unanswered goals from Tietjen and Jonathan Moon to close out the quarter, as both teams headed into the second quarter deadlocked at 3-3.
Kirk scored his second of the game with 7:42 remaining in the half, before Tietjen tallied his second of the contest less than a minute later. With the score tied at 4-4, Tyler Vendetti laced a shot into the back of the net to give the hosts a 5-4 lead with 4:45 to go in the first half. The goal from Vendetti proved to be the final tally of the half, as Haverford carried a 5-4 lead into the halftime break.
Kirk got his hat trick to knot the game at 5-5 at the 12:53 mark of the third quarter, before Tietjen also quickly collected his third goal of the matchup with 11:51 to go in the third quarter, to hand the Scarlet and Black the lead once again 6-5. Richards added his second goal of the afternoon to give the Fords a little breathing space, 7-5, with 8:40 left in quarter number three, before the Bears rattled off two unanswered goals to even the game at 7-7 with 4:35 remaining in the third period. Following a Tietjen penalty, a man-up goal from Eddie Newman gave the visitors their fourth lead of the game, as Haverford found themselves down 8-7 headed into the final quarter.
An unassisted goal from Philip Passalaqua forced another tie, this time 8-8, before Vendetti rocketed in his second goal of the game, to make it 9-8 with 12:54 left in the contest.
Christopher Pucciare triggered another stalemate at 9-9, with a goal at the 10:19 mark, only to have Will Graves score 11 seconds later, to put the hosts back up 10-9. Ursinus would then score a tying goal (Newman), and a go-ahead goal (Nate Goody), putting pressure on the Scarlet and Black with 7:59 to go in the battle.
However, following a detrimental penalty to the Bears' Paul Army for slashing, Passalaqua took advantage of the man-up situation, rifling in a goal to tie the game at 11-11 with just 2:37 left. Neither team was able to find the late winner, as overtime loomed for the two conference foes.
With just 1:48 left in the first overtime period, Newman capped off his hat trick by ripping a shot past Abraham, off an assist from Kirk, to give Ursinus the 12-11 sudden victory in overtime.
Next up for the Fords is a trip to Westminster, Md, as Men's Lacrosse takes on the Green Terror of McDaniel on April 13, at 12 p.m.