HAVERFORD, Pa. – Neither the weather nor a hungry opponent could stop the Haverford College men's lacrosse team from recording a 19-10 Centennial Conference victory over visiting Washington College Wednesday evening under the lights at Swan Field.
The Fords (6-2, 1-1 CC), holding a 9-2 lead, and Shoremen (3-3, 1-1) waited out a 50 minute weather delay during the halftime break, then returned to the turf no worse for the wear as the teams combined for more goals in the third 15-minute period, 13, than the pair accumulated over the game's initial 30 minutes.
Haverford's 19 goals are the most since a 20-10 win last March at York College.
Phillip Valliant got the ball rolling for the Fords early with an unassisted laser into the top right corner less than three minutes after the opening face-off. The lead grew to 4-0 by the time the clock wound down to the three minute mark in the period.
Washington finally cracked the seal in the second 15 minutes, scoring twice, but Haverford was able to get five more past Shoremen starting goalie Peter Stewart before the break.
The entire first half was played in unpleasant, if not ugly, weather. Rain, bordering on sleet—which at times seemed as if it would turn to snow with the next goal—continued throughout the first and second periods. As the clock began its halftime countdown, lightning and thunder entered the picture causing the field to be cleared. The delay eventually lasted 50 minutes but both teams came out winging it as if they'd just warmed up rather than being forced to sit and wait out the weather.
The Shoremen picked up the third period's first goal, but Myles Monaghan then Max Hjelm scored for the Fords to push the advantage to eight. Washington fought back with four unanswered goals, mostly on transition plays following turnovers, to pull within four, though.
Nick Schoen finally ended the visitor's surge with his ninth and tenth goals of the season. Each team scored twice more in the frantic third period which ended with Haverford leading 15-9.
Patient offensive possessions, in stark contrast to the furious play during the third period, ruled Haverford's opportunities in the final frame where they out-scored the Shoremen by a 4-1 count.
Several times during the later parts of the third and into the final period the Fords received key saves from netminder Joe Banno who collected six of his 14 total saves in the fourth period.
Solid defensive efforts also came from the players out in front of Banno as Dillon Hamill had three caused turnovers and Sage Disch collected two.
Robert Breckinridge also provided an edge for the Fords during the rain-soaked victory winning 15-of-25 face-offs.
Scoring came from eight different Fords led by Monaghan and Schoen who each registered four markers and Hjelm who chipped in with three. Freshman Dan LoSardo added the final tally of the night scoring his first collegiate goal.
Next up for Haverford is a 3 p.m. Saturday afternoon visit from McDaniel College in another conference match-up.