HAVERFORD, Pa. - The No. 24 Haverford College women's lacrosse team (9-5, 5-2 CC) dropped an offensive showdown with No. 2 Franklin & Marshall (13-3, 6-1), 20-17, on a beautiful Saturday afternoon on Swan Field.
Before the matchup, the Fords honored Jordan Denaver, Jill DiTommaso, Emily Harrington, and Lizzie Healy in a Senior Day ceremony, celebrating their hard work and dedication over the past four seasons at Haverford.
It was a five-goal game for Brooke Epstein, while Kylie McNamara and Tiffany Mikulis found the back of the net four times each for the Scarlet and Black offensively. Healy caused two turnovers on the defensive side of the ball, while Healy and Finley Jordan scooped up a team-high three ground balls each.
On the draw, Mikulis came away with seven draw controls, while Epstein and McNamara each collected five. In between the pipes, Lizzie Symonds made three saves, while Annie Bravacos made four saves off of six shots in relief action.
It was all Franklin & Marshall early, as the Diplomats raced out to an early 4-0 lead in the first quarter, fueled by a goal and an assist by Lydia Cassilly. After a free-position goal from McNamara made it 4-1, a 3-0 scoring from F&M closed out the opening quarter, with the Diplomats carrying a 7-1 lead into the second period.
Following Cassilly's third goal of the game, the Fords went on a 3-0 scoring run of their own. Goals from Epstein (player-up), Ellie Hughes (player-down), and Louisa Coughlin, chopped the Diplomats lead down to 8-4 with 8:24 remaining in the second quarter. Gillian Brennan added two goals for F&M to bring the lead back up to 10-4, before two goals from Mikulis (one coming from the free-position) and a goal from McNamara, brought the Scarlet and Black's deficit to back within three, 10-7, with 2:09 to go in the first half. However, a free-position goal from Cassilly pushed Franklin & Marshall's lead to 11-7, to close out half number one.
The Diplomats opened up the second half on a 3-0 run, before goals from Denaver and McNamara trimmed the F&M lead down to 14-9, with 10:11 left in quarter number three. Franklin & Marshall then went on another 4-0 unanswered run, fueled by two goals from Brennan and two goals from Lauren Pittman, to give the Diplomats a commanding 18-9 lead with 3:10 to go in the third quarter. Haverford refused to go down quietly, with goals from Epstein and Martini with under a minute left, bringing down the visitor's lead to 18-11, with the fourth quarter looming.
F&M went back up by nine at 20-11, after goals from Lane Lambeth and Pittman began the final quarter, before the Fords started to get the offense going. Mikulis, Epstein, and McNamara all found nylon, to bring the Diplomats' lead down to 20-14, before the hosts continued to put the pressure on the opposition.
Two more goals from Esptein capped off her five-goal day, but more importantly, cut the Franklin & Marshall advantage down to just four goals, as Haverford trailed 20-16 with only 2:56 remaining in the fourth and final quarter.
The Diplomats did their best to run out the clock, but a MIkulis goal with just 28 seconds remaining gave Haverford some late momentum with minimal time left in the contest. F&M were able to drain the final 28 seconds of the game, as the Diplomats escaped Swan Field with a narrow 20-17 victory.
Cassilly ended the day for the visitors with five goals and two assists, while her teammate Pittman finished the contest with four goals and two assists.
Next up for women's lacrosse is a midweek non-conference tilt with Moravian on Wednesday, April 24, at 6 p.m., before capping off the 2024 regular season with a matchup at Hood Trophy rival Swarthmore on Saturday, April 27, at noon.