HAVERFORD, Pa. – In the Centennial Conference opener for both teams, the 23rd-ranked Haverford College women's lacrosse team fended off a challenge from McDaniel with a second-half surge, taking a 14-9 victory at Swan Field on Saturday afternoon. The Fords (6-2, 1-0 CC) outscored the Green Terror (4-4, 0-1 CC), 9-4 in the second half to pull away in what had been a defensive battle to that point, as the teams were deadlocked at 5-5 entering the intermission.
McDaniel opened the scoring under two minutes into the contest, with Annemarie Duerr finding the back of the net for a 1-0 lead. From that point, Haverford unleashed a 3-0 run, with Hailey Morris, Allie Gibbons, and Belle McMahon all scoring to give the Fords a 3-1 cushion. On the third goal of the stretch, Julia Manetta found McMahon for her 100th career assist. Tori Arcilesi then answered for McDaniel, as she grabbed a pair of goals in the span of just over a minute, tying the contest at 3-3.
Maeve Gaffney and Callie Crawford keyed a run with consecutive goals, as the Fords notched a pair of strikes to restore a 5-3 lead. Undaunted, McDaniel closed the half with a pair of scores, including a conversion on a man-up opportunity. McDaniel tied the score at 5-5 with 7:47 left to play in the stanza as Arcilesi notched her third of the contest.
Out of the halftime gates, the Fords appeared to have a renewed energy as Julia Pascarella found Gibbons and Morris for quick goals in the opening minutes, restoring a two-goal cushion and a 7-5 lead. Kealey Allison scored to cut the advantage to just one goal with 22:24 to play, but Haverford eventually opened up a three-goal lead with McMahon firing a strike with 16:25 to go.
Megan Quattrone tabbed a free-position goal to give McDaniel some life with 6:52 to go, but the Fords closed the contest on a 3-0 scoring run, with McMahon and Gibbons tallying unassisted before Pascarella finished her career-best sixth assist of the contest with a pass that found Morris for a 14-9 lead. Pascarella's six assists were tied for the second-most in program history, the second time this season the program has matched the feat after also adding six against Cabrini on March 9.
Gibbons extended her Centennial Conference lead with four goals, finishing the day with 36 so far this season. She also matched a career best effort with five ground balls. McMahon and Morris each notched a career-best three goals, while Anna Meyers added five caused turnovers, also a career best for the junior and a feat that is tied for the second-best single game output in program history. Haverford's 18 caused turnovers in total tied for the fifth-most in program single-game history. Amelia Slade notched 10 saves and scooped a game-high six ground balls.
The Fords have now won four straight contests over the Green Terror dating back to the 2016 campaign. Haverford returns to action on Saturday, March 30 as they head to Lancaster, Pa. to face off with No. 2 Franklin & Marshall. Opening draw for the matchup is slated for 3 p.m.