LANCASTER, Pa. – The Haverford College women's lacrosse team (10-8) saw its season end in the semifinals of the Centennial Conference tournament as the squad was outlasted at No. 4 Franklin & Marshall (15-3) by a 16-10 final on Saturday afternoon at Shadek Stadium.
Senior Allie Gibbons capped her standout season and career with a three-goal effort. Gibbons finishes the season with 69 goals, the second-best single-season total in program history. Junior Maeve Gaffney also notched a hat-trick on Saturday. Senior Sarah Svetec grabbed a career-best five ground balls, while also notching a team-best three draw controls on the afternoon. Junior Anna Meyers had three caused turnovers, while sophomore Amelia Slade made nine saves in goal. T
he scoring opened with Haverford striking first. Playing just 15 miles from her hometown of Lititz, Svetec converted on a free-position strike for a 1-0 Haverford lead just over three minutes into the contest. The Diplomats connected on a 2-0 run, before Gaffney added a free-position of her own to tie the score with 20:18 left in the first.
A 5-0 run for the hosts helped Franklin & Marshall open up an 8-3 lead with 11:21 remaining, but Haverford scored two of the final three goals of the stanza, as junior Julia Manetta found the back of the net off an assist from Gibbons while first-year Callie Crawford cut the lead to just four at 9-5 entering the intermission with an unassisted goal. The second began on a 2-0 run for the Fords, as Haverford was within just two at 9-7 with 23:29 remaining in regulation as Manetta found Gaffney with a pass, and Gaffney completed her hat-trick.
Franklin & Marshall regained possession off a free-position attempt miss for the Fords, and called for timeout with 20:45 to go, clinging to just the 2-goal lead. Megan Jackson scored for the hosts to extend the advantage back out to three, but after a yellow card was issued to a Franklin & Marshall player, Gibbons scored on a man-up opportunity, trimming the Haverford deficit back to just two with 17:47 remaining.
Unfortunately for the Fords, the next five goals of the contest would be credited to the ledger of the host Diplomats, as F&M opened up a 15-8 lead with 8:52 to go. Haverford still had one last rally in them, as Gibbons and Svetec each scored in the final 10 minutes of action to cap their impressive Haverford careers.
The Fords collected 20 ground balls, to just 12 for the Diplomats. The Fords also held Franklin & Marshall to an 0-3 mark from the free-position spot. The Fords went 17-19 in clears on the afternoon.
Marissa McGarrey, Ally Marino, and Megan Jackson each had three goal performances for the Diplomats. Emily Kitchin made 10 saves between the pipes.
Haverford finishes the year with at least 10 wins for the fourth time in the last five seasons and joins the 2013 and 2015 squads as Centennial Conference semifinalists after also achieving a national ranking for the second straight campaign. Gibbons finishes the season with 69 goals, tops in the Centennial Conference, while Manetta (68 assists) and Slade (181 saves) also top the most up-to-the-date conference leaderboards.
With the loss, the careers of Gibbons, Svetec, Rina Rosnow, and Kirsten Mullin come to an end. On the field, the group notched 40 wins and appeared in three Centennial Conference tournaments.