CARLISLE, Pa. – The Haverford College women's lacrosse team (10-7) upended No. 22 Dickinson (11-6) in the First Round of the Centennial Conference Tournament on Wednesday afternoon at Biddle Field, using a late goal from junior Eliza Brosgol to avenge a regular season loss to the Red Devils and advance into the semifinal round of the tournament.
Haverford has now bested a ranked team on two occasions this season, adding the triumph to an early season victory over then-No. 3 TCNJ on Swan Field. The Fords advance to the semifinals of the Centennial Conference tournament for the first time since the 2015 season. Senior Allie Gibbons paced the Haverford attack with four second half goals, while sophomores Julia Pascarella and Hailey Morris each added a pair of tallies. Pascarella joined junior Julia Manetta with two assists each, while Morris also notched a helper in the triumph.
Sophomore Isabel Canning had a big game on the back line, notching four ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers in a standout defensive effort. Senior Sarah Svetec also had a solid outing with three draw controls, a pair of caused turnovers, and two ground balls. Junior Olivia DiRienz corralled a game-best five draw controls, including a crucial possession with under 28 seconds remaining. Sophomore goalkeeper Amelia Slade made 12 saves in a fantastic effort in goal.
Pascarella opened the scoring at the 27:42 mark of the first, taking a feed from Morris and finishing past Dickinson goalkeeper Drew Yager. Haverford added to its lead just over two minutes later, with Manetta notching an unassisted strike. Manetta later caused a turnover and turned the ground ball into instant offense at the other end of the field, as she found a waiting Morris in the attacking third. Morris slotted her shot past Yager, giving Haverford a 3-1 lead with 18:17 left in the first.
Anne Dunster scored for Dickinson, cutting the Haverford lead back to just one with 15:24 to play, and Mack Mauer found the back of the net with 10:32 to go, tying the score at 3-3. Pascarella responded, as she scored unassisted with 9:33 to go, making a nice move to dodge past the defense, while slotting a shot past the goalkeeper to restore a 4-3 lead for Haverford. Pascarella also contributed to Haverford's next goal as she sent in a cross-cage pass to Morris, allowing the junior to finish her second of the contest, pushing the Fords lead to 5-3 with 8:47 to play.
Dunster tallied with 6:37 to go, before Pascarella again helped ignite the offense. The sophomore found sophomore Courtney Cubbin with a cross-goal pass, and Cubbin floated it on goal and past Yager for a 6-4 lead. Again, Dunster was the one with the answer for the Red Devils as the senior cut the lead to just one entering the halftime break with a goal that came with just 29 seconds left in the stanza.
After the intermission, Gibbons tallied her first goal of the contest in the opening moments of the second half, converting her conference-leading 63rd of the year on a free-position strike with 28:44 to play. The conversion restored a two-goal lead for Haverford at 7-5. Gibbons was awarded another free-position opportunity less than three minutes later, pushing it past the goalkeeper yet again with 25:48 on the clock to stretch the Haverford lead to 8-5.
A 2-0 run for Dickinson pulled the hosts back within one goal at 8-7, but Gibbons returned fire at 14:59, scoring her third of the half off a pass from DiRienz to give Haverford a two-goal lead. After a yellow card on Gibbons, Dunster tallied a man-up strike to move Dickinson back within one at 9-8.
Off the following draw, Gibbons scored a highlight-reel goal as she drove on net and finished a nifty shot between the legs of the goalkeeper, leading to a Dickinson timeout with Haverford back up by two scores. Dunster looked to get things back within one with 11:19 to go, but Slade came up with a tremendous save to deny the attempt. Eventually, Dunster would key a 2-0 run for Dickinson to tie the contest at 10-10 with 3:46 to play.
Brosgol later came up with a momentous caused turnover, scooping a ground ball with 1:35 to go. Haverford called for timeout with its newfound possession, and Brosgol netted the game-winner, entering the attacking zone from the left side of the goalmouth and taking the ball in herself, firing past Priest to give Haverford a late one-goal lead with just 28 seconds showing on the clock.
Dunster tied a Centennial Conference playoff record with eight goals to pace Dickinson offensively in her final contest as a Red Devil.
The Fords will now shift focus to a Saturday afternoon matchup at No. 4 Franklin & Marshall. Haverford has gone toe-to-toe with the top-seeded team in the Centennial in recent history, dropping one-goal contests in each of the last two regular season meetings. Haverford fell on a last second goal on March 30 in Lancaster, after a spirited 11-5 run in the second half to tie the Diplomats with 1:46 to play.