SWARTHMORE, Pa. – The Haverford College men's lacrosse team fought back-and-fourth with its Hood Trophy rival for the final position in the Centennial Conference Tournament on Saturday. However, a late second half rally and a couple inopportune posts against the Fords sent the Garnet to the conference playoffs.
Tav Hafner and Stephen DeLeo each scored twice for the Fords, while Isaac Krier, Mitch Hagan, and Patrick Girard also beat the Swarthmore goalkeeper on Saturday. Haverford finished the game with a 32-23 advantage in shots; however, the Fords hit the post twice in the third quarter and crossbar once in the fourth quarter during the heartbreaking defeat.
The host Garnet tallied first, but it was Haverford who answered back just 27 seconds later and knotted the game at one. Hagan provided the early equalizer for his first goal of the season. The score remained tied at one after the opening 15 minutes, but it did not take the Fords long to cash in during the second quarter.
Haverford took its largest lead of the game, 4-1, with three goals in a span just 2:37 at the beginning of the second quarter. DeLeo tallied his first goal of the day off an assist by Garret Trucksess just 1:17 into the quarter. Less than one minute later, Girard broke through the Swarthmore defense. A man-up goal from Krier gave the Haverford side a 4-1 lead with 11:06 to play in the half. The Garnet controlled the remainder of the first half as they had their own 4-0 run and held a 5-4 lead at the break.
Coming out of the halftime break, Swarthmore and Haverford alternated a pair of goals for each team and held a 7-6 lead after a quick start to the third quarter. Hafner started the scoring for the Fords with his goal just three minutes into the quarter that made the score 6-5. DeLeo's second goal of the game made it 7-6 Swarthmore with just over nine minutes left in the period.
Just one minute after DeLeo made it a 7-6 game, Hafner's second goal of the game tied the score at seven-all with 8:23 to play in the third. Nevertheless, the Garnet tallied the game's final goal with 6:23 to play in the quarter.
Haverford put the Garnet under heavy pressure looking to keep the season alive and outshot their counterparts by a 22-9 margin during the second half. However, six second half saves from Swarthmore's Cole Fox and three more ricochets off of the post or crossbar denied the Fords an equalizer. The pressure stayed constant the entire second half as Fox made his final save of the afternoon with just one second left in regulation.
On the defensive end for Haverford, Eric Caliendo made five saves to cap his standout career. The Haverford defense came up with 11 caused turnovers. Brandon Smith and Max Ellis each forced three of those takeaways. Ellis also came away with a team-high six groundballs. Zack Cohen added five groundball pickups as he won 10 of Saturday's 18 face offs.