HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College men's lacrosse team was denied a trip to the Centennial Conference Tournament as Swarthmore scored a pair of goals in the final 24 seconds of regulation time on Saturday during an 11-10 win on Swan Field. Haverford rallied from an early 3-0 deficit to take its first lead of the afternoon with 1:47 left in regulation before the Garnet rallied.
Saturday's contest also marked Senior Day for the program as the team celebrated the Class of 2017 which features PJ Jackson, Jack Russ, and Chase Williams. Jackson finished his day with two caused turnovers and four ground balls on the defensive end. Russ tallied four shots and a ground ball, while Williams also took a shot and had a ground ball. Ben Frost led the Haverford attack with a hat trick on the afternoon.
The Garnet certainly made the most of the opening and closing minutes on Saturday as they scored three times in the first 2:29 of playing time. Haverford got goals from Stephen DeLeo and Frost to come within two goals, but each time Swarthmore answered and was holding a 5-2 lead after the first quarter.
A run of three straight goals off the sticks of Kevin Goshorn, Isaac Krier, and Garret Trucksess in the second quarter brought the game back within a single goal at 6-5. Nevertheless, Swarthmore answered with three of its own in a row before Krier tallied his second of the game with 10 seconds remaining in the half. That goal made the score 9-6 in favor of the Garnet at the half.
Haverford really locked down in the defensive end during the second half as Frost and Patrick Girard tallied the only two goals of the third quarter. Just over two minutes into the fourth quarter, Frost tied the game at nine-all with his 23rd goal of the season. Swarthmore was successful on its clear attempts for much of the afternoon, but Haverford forced three failed clears in a row after tying the game.
Even when the Garnet did gain a successful clear, Slack made one of his nine saves on the afternoon to deny to go-ahead goal for the time being. Chandler Todd picked up a ground ball right around the three minute mark and with 1:47 to play in regulation Ryan Tetro gave the Fords their first lead of the afternoon. However, Haverford did not gain another possession as the Garnet dashed Haverford's playoff chances with those two final goals in the last 24 seconds. Before those final two goals, 31:19 of playing time had elapsed since the Swarthmore's ninth goal of the game back in the second quarter.
Men's lacrosse finished the game with a 33-27 edge in shots as Cole Fox also made nine stops in the crease for the Garnet. Haverford collected a 31-27 advantage in ground balls with Jake Ephron matching Jackson and Todd for the team lead with four pickups. Todd also caused three turnovers from his defensive position on Saturday.