HAVERFORD, Pa. - The No. 23 Haverford College women's lacrosse team (12-5) charged into the Centennial Conference semifinals with a resounding 17-4 victory over sixth-seeded Dickinson (10-7) in a Centennial Conference First Round game at Swan Field Wednesday afternoon.
Lizzie Symonds was a major catalyst for the Fords between the pipes, making a career-high 15 saves in her 53 minutes of work before giving way to Annie Bravacos in the fourth quarter. Ellie Hughes had a big day offensively, scoring five goals on five shots, while Brooke Epstein and Kylie McNamara each added three goals. Jordan Denaver was seemingly everywhere offensively, adding a goal and tallying four assists. Abby Bonner contributed a goal and two assists. Lily Provost tallied her first career goal in the final seconds of the contest. Reilly Curran came up huge on the draws, securing five draw controls, while Lizzie Healy added two caused turnovers and two ground balls in a defensive masterclass.
Brooke Epstein opened the scoring for Haverford less than two minutes in, and the Fords then scored on the ensuing draw, with Epstein again tallying off an assist from Denaver. Hughes lit the lamp for the first time at the 8:16 mark and again at the 6:50 mark of the first quarter, as the Fords had all the early momentum, leading 4-0.
Dickinson called for a timeout and was able to pull a goal back off the stick of Liz Barroll, who was assisted by Emma Wynne. McNamara scored off another Denaver feed with less than 90 seconds left in the stanza, and the Fords headed into the quarter break in command, leading 5-1.
Wynne scored to make the contest just a three-goal game, but Epstein then tallied a highlight-reel goal ahead of Hughes completing the hat-trick with 12:33 left in the second for a 7-2 Haverford advantage. Abby Geary stopped the run with a player-down goal for the Red Devils at 8:10 left in the half before Louisa Coughlin took a feed from Bonner and scored 3:14 before the intermission for a five-goal cushion at 8-3.
Wynne scored first after the intermission, but then Haverford unleashed a major run as they scored the final nine goals of the second half, keeping the Red Devils off the scoreboard after the first minute and change of the opening period. The stretch included goals from McNamara and Hughes before three consecutive player-up tallies, with Denaver and Curran wrapping their tallies around a free-position strike from Hughes. Curran's goal triggered the running clock throughout the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Kylie Kearon, Abby Bonner, and Provost each scored as the Fords were able to break things open, pulling away from the visitors.
Haverford held a 16-14 advantage in ground balls, while draw controls were even at 12-12. The Fords fired 34 shots to 29 for Dickinson, while VanDorpe was strong in goal for the visitors, as the CC leader in ground balls added eight while causing a game-best six turnovers.
Coming into the contest, Haverford was ranked fifth in the NCAA Regional Rankings for Region IV, while Dickinson was slotted sixth.
Third-seeded Haverford will now head into a rematch of last season's semifinals, taking on second-seed and national No. 4 Franklin & Marshall at 5 p.m. Friday in Lancaster.
This is the fifth total, and fourth consecutive, CC semifinal matchup between the two sides as the Fords seek their first CC Championship game appearance.