SWARTHMORE, Pa. - The Haverford College men's lacrosse team (7-9, 3-5 CC) fell to Hood Trophy rival Swarthmore (14-1, 8-0 CC) 17-7, in the final game of the 2024 campaign. The heavily contested battle took place at Clothier Field Stadium on the campus of Swarthmore College.
In his final game donning the scarlet and black, Will Graves paced the Fords in goals with three, while Reid Tietjen added two goals and an assist, to make the sophomore the goals and points leader in the Centennial Conference at the end of the regular season.
On the defensive side of the ball, Ronan West caused two turnovers and scooped up two ground balls, while goalkeeper Jacob Abraham caused two turnovers and collected three ground balls during his relief outing between the pipes.
Teddy Carlin won 5-of-19 battles at the faceoff X, while Ronan West and Drew Buck came away with one face-off win each.
Senior Andy Tieso started the day in between the pipes for the Scarlet and Black, denying eight of 20 shots faced, while Abraham stopped six of 11 shots steered on frame.
The Fords raced out to a quick lead, after goals from Philip Passalaqua, Evan Wolpet, and Will Graves, handed Haverford the early 3-1 advantage with 5:59 to go in the opening quarter. However, two goals from Jackson Brosgol and a goal from Nolan Ohrman gave the Garnet a 4-3 edge, headed into the second quarter.
Swarthmore jumped out on a 4-0 scoring run to begin the second quarter, highlighted by two goals from Michael Hardiman, to extend the host's lead to 8-3 with 10:09 left in the first half. Tietjen pulled a goal back for the Scarlet and Black at the 7:09 mark, before another 4-0 run by the Garnet increased Swarthmore's advantage to 12-4 at the halftime break.
Carter Strauch lit the lamp twice to open up the second half, before Tietjen's second goal, off a nifty feed from Graves, brought the host's lead down to 14-5 with 9:49 left in the third quarter. Goals from Swarthmore's Von Mabbs and Lucas Kearney put the Garnet up 16-5, before Graves' goal at the 3:48 mark cut the advantage back to a 10-goal deficit, 16-6, to end quarter number three.
The final stanza only saw one goal each from the Centennial Conference foes, as Clay Almgren and Graves both found nylon, as the Garnet were able to hang on and claim the 17-7 victory,
Following the clash with Swarthmore, men's lacrosse has officially ended its 2024 season. Haverford completed the season with a 7-9 record overall, going 3-5 in the Centennial Conference for a second consecutive year.
The Scarlet and Black increased their overall win total from last season by two wins, and scored a program-record 209 goals, up from 136 a season ago, as the Fords look to continue building their foundation for the 2025 season.