Women's Lacrosse Wins Home Opener over Scranton, 16-14

HAVERFORD, Pa. – In the 2018 home opener, the Haverford College women's lacrosse team notched a 16-14 victory over visiting Scranton at Swan Field on Sunday afternoon. The Fords received five goals from Allie Gibbons while Molly Lausten added four. Belle McMahon had a pair of tallies for the Fords. Rachel Romens made nine saves between the pipes to pick up the win in net. Haverford improves to 2-1 on the season while Scranton falls to the same 2-1 mark in defeat.

The two squads were closely matched in the opening 30 minutes of play with Scranton grabbing the first two-goal lead at 4-2 as Katie Rogers scored with 19:18 to play. The Fords quickly tied it up with goals from Gibbons and Hailey Morris, but a 2-0 run for the Royals restored a 6-4 lead for the visitors with 11:53 remaining in the first half.

Lausten converted a free-position attempt with 11:04 remaining in the first, and Gibbons scored off a feed from Maeve Gaffney to yet again tie things at 6-6 with under 10 minutes left in the first stanza. Exactly five minutes later, Scranton took the lead on a Kate Calabro goal, but Lausten and Sollee tallied in the final minutes of the half to hand the Fords an 8-7 lead heading into the intermission.

Calabro opened up the second half scoring for the visitors, but Haverford quickly rattled off a 3-0 scoring run thanks to goals from Gibbons, Lausten and Eliza Brosgol in the span of just over two minutes. Haverford went ahead 12-8 with the trio of goals. Kailyn Angelo got one back for Scranton, but a 4-0 run for the Fords helped give the hosts some breathing room as Gibbons found the back of the net twice in the stretch for a 16-9 lead. Gibbons took advantage of a man-up opportunity for her fifth goal of the season to close the run. 

Scranton would not go away, however, using some late-game momentum to finish the contest on a 5-0 run. Calabro was once again a force in the closing minutes with three goals in the final 3:20 of game action as Scranton clawed back to trail by just two with eight seconds to play. Any thoughts of a miracle comeback were squashed by a draw control win and methodical Fords possession that ran out the final eight seconds of the clock.

Haverford displayed a great offensive game plan in the attacking third, using purposeful passing to set up shots near the goalmouth all afternoon long. On the other end, Romens had a great day in net with nine saves to her name. The Fords caused 11 turnovers with Noelle Smith leading the charge with three. Madison Jones picked up two while Olivia DiRienz and Lausten also each notched a pair.

Jones, Gibbons and Romens each had three ground balls while Sarah Svetec and Eliza Brosgol added four draw controls each.

Calabro was the offensive standout for the Royals with seven goals on nine shots. She also won six draw controls in an all-around effort. Becca Russo caused a game-high six draw controls and scooped six ground balls.

Haverford improves to 6-1 all-time against Scranton. The Fords return to action on Saturday, March 10 against Cabrini. Game time is slated for 1 p.m. at Swan Field.