HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College men's lacrosse team gave visiting Ursinus everything it could handle on Wednesday evening. The Fords (7-7, 3-4 CC) led the No. 18 Bears (12-2, 6-1 CC) by a 4-3 score at the break; however, Ursinus used a 5-1 advantage in the third quarter to take a lead it would not relinquish in the eventual 10-8 final.
Despite Wednesday's result, Haverford remains just one game back of the final playoff position and will battle fourth-place Swarthmore this Saturday in the regular season finale with the winner taking a huge step towards locking up the final postseason berth.
Tav Hafner led the Fords' attack on Wednesday evening with four goals and one assist. He scored three goals in a five minute span during the second quarter to put his team up 3-1 midway through the period. Isaac Krier also netted two goals for the Fords, while Garret Trucksess (one goal, one assist) and Rob McLallen (two assists) also had multi-point games.
With both teams sending an all-conference goalie to anchor strong defensive units, goals were hard to come by in the first quarter. Both Eric Caliendo and the Bears' Brian Neff turned away four shots during the first 15 minutes. The only scoring was an Ursinus goal with just over two minutes remaining in the opening quarter.
Hafner got the Haverford attack jump started in the second quarter as he scored his first three goals of the game to give his side a 3-1 lead with 8:39 to play in the half. Trucksess also tallied with five minutes to go as the Fords carried a 4-3 lead into the second half.
Hafner was back on the attack to start the second half as his goal matched the Fords' largest advantage of the night at 5-3. However, the Bears closed the quarter on a 5-0 run, including four goals in a span of just under three minutes. That stretch carried over to the fourth quarter and reached seven straight unanswered goals as the Bears led 10-5 with just under 10 minutes remaining in regulation.
Haverford did not go away easily as Krier scored a pair of goals that were just 38 seconds apart. Chandler Todd and Hafner were credited with the respective assists. The Fords continued to put the nationally-ranked Bears on their heels as Evan Dorman recorded his second goal of the season just over a minute later to make the score 10-8 with 5:25 to play. The Fords took six shots in that remaining time, but Neff stood tall as he finished the game with 18 saves.
The Fords held a 40-27 advantage in total shots for the game. That advantage was 26-21 in shots on goal. Caliendo saved 11 shots for the Fords. The Haverford defense also caused 12 of the Bears' 19 turnovers. PJ Jackson, Max Ellis and Todd each had three caused turnovers. Max Ellis also picked up eight groundballs to help Haverford own a 33-31 edge in that category.
Men's lacrosse can force a tiebreak for the final playoff spot with a win at Swarthmore on Saturday. That road contest with the Garnet is set for 1 p.m. Both Dickinson and Washington College also have identical 3-4 conference records with the Fords. Dickinson will battle Franklin & Marshall in the season finale, while Washington College will take on Gettysburg.