HAVERFORD, Pa. – In the regular season finale at Swan Field, the Haverford Women's Lacrosse team fêted its seniors with a 20-15 win over rival Swarthmore. Senior midfielder Sarina Manetta tallied five goals, including her 100th career goal, to pace the Fords on the day. Rachel Romens made a career-best 10 saves in the victory. The Fords finish the season at 8-8 (4-5 CC) while Swarthmore falls to 8-8 (2-7 CC) in defeat.
The elder Manetta sister had a banner day for the Fords, scoring her 100th career goal in the early goings of the first half before also taking over the Haverford single-season draw control record with seven draw controls on the day. Manetta finishes her season with 64 draw controls, seven clear of the previous record of 57 set by Diana Perry in 2014.
Sarina's younger sister Julia also etched her name into the Haverford record books with a five-assist afternoon that gives her the Haverford single-season record in the category. Julia Manetta finishes her first year at Haverford with 37 assists, two more than Alexa Pesce had in 2010.
Haverford used a 3-0 scoring run to take an early 3-1 lead in an offensive-minded half. Sarina Manetta took a feed from Julia Manetta for her 100th career goal with 25:36 left in the period. Taylor Chiang tallied a pair of unassisted strikes for Swarthmore to tie things at 3-3, but the Fords responded with the next three goals, as Julia Manetta, Kate Sollee and Molly Lausten tallied in succession.
Chiang and Briana Narzikul scored to give the Garnet some momentum down just 6-5, but Allie Gibbons converted a free-position opportunity and Sarina Manetta again connected with her younger sister Julia on the assist for a goal and an 8-5 lead.
After a Tess Wild goal for Swarthmore, Haverford rattled off yet another 3-0 run, taking an 11-6 lead at the 5:31 mark.Shannon Rafsol, Sarina Manetta and Gibbons all scored during the stretch. Narzikul buried one before the half, but Haverford took a comfortable 11-7 lead into the halftime break.
Molly Lausten opened the second half with a free-position conversion and the Fords never let the advantage slip below four goals in the entirety of the second period. The Fords completed a late 4-0 run that included goals from seniors Maura Grant and Courtney Carter. The spurt also featured a pair of assists from Julia Manetta, who took over the assists record and padded the total by one as the Fords took a 20-12 lead with 8:53 left to play.
The 20th goal of the contest, from Sarina Manetta, would be the last of the contest for the Fords. Narzikul scored three times in the final six minutes for Swarthmore, reflecting the 20-15 scoreline.
The Fords had four multiple-goal scorers as Sarina Manetta (5), Gibbons (4), Lausten (3) and Sollee (2) each lit the lamp on multiple occasions.
Tatiana Lathion started the contest in goal before giving way to Rachel Romens. Lathion made two saves while Romens made a career-best 10. Sarina Manetta scooped three ground balls and tallied two caused turnovers.
Swarthmore was paced by Narzikul and Wild, who had five goals each. Chiang scored three times. Besty Cohen made five saves, tallied three caused turnovers and scooped three ground balls in an all-around effort between the pipes.
All eight Haverford seniors saw action as Claire Cote, Averi Gaines, Carter, Sarina Manetta, Grant, Stephanie Kisciras, Shannon Rafsol and Lucy Koch all finished their final regular season at Swan Field with a victory.
Haverford concludes the season at 8-8, the fifth consecutive year the team has finished at or above .500.