ALLENTOWN, Pa. – The Haverford College men's lacrosse team handed previously unbeaten Muhlenberg its first loss of the year with an 11-9 victory on Wednesday night in Allentown. The Fords (4-4, 1-1 CC) started strong in both halves, outscoring the Mules (8-1, 0-1 CC) by a 9-3 margin during the first and third quarters on their way to victory.
Rob McLallen paced Haverford's attack with three goals and another assist for the second hat trick of his career. Isaac Krier finished with three points as he scored twice and assisted on another goal. Brian Geffroy also found the back of the cage on two separate occasions for the Fords.
Muhlenberg did strike first, scoring just under two minutes into the contest. However, that would be the final time the home team led on the scoreboard as the Fords scored four straight to end the quarter. McLallen got Haverford and his hat trick started with an unassisted tally at the 9:41 mark. That goal broke open the Muhlenberg defense as Krier scored just 89 seconds later while Patrick Girard added a man-up tally just over one minute after that. These three quick strikes came in just 2:31 of playing time. McLallen set up Stephan DeLeo's 11th goal of the year to cap the first quarter scoring with 24 seconds showing on the scoreboard.
Ethan Grossman, who scored five goals to lead Muhlenberg, recorded a pair of goals early in the second to bring his side back within a single goal. Nevertheless, the Fords never fully relinquished the lead as Ben Frost scored his ninth goal of the season on another man-up advantage. Krier was credited with the assist on the play as Haverford converted two of its four extra-man chances during the contest.
Muhlenberg did tie the game with two more quick goals to start the third quarter. However, Haverford showed off its quick strike offense once more with the answer as Geffroy and McLallen scored just 46 seconds apart to reclaim a 7-5 advantage. The Fords started to pull away with three more goals in a span of just 43 seconds later in the quarter. McLallen capped his hat trick with his fifth goal of the season at the 3:37 mark. Just 12 seconds later, Mitch Hagan set up Krier's 10th goal of the season. That furious stretch was capped by Geffroy's first multi-goal game as he found the back of the net off a pass from Kevin Goshorn for his third goal of his rookie season.
Goshorn scored his first goal of the season to start Haverford's attack in the fourth quarter, matching the team's largest lead at 11-6. The Fords were holding that 11-6 edge with under two minutes to play before Muhlenberg scored three of its own goals in just 31 seconds. Stopping the Muhlenberg attack from inching any closer, Dylan Slack made a save with 1:02 left in regulation and the Fords maintained possession for the rest of regulation to nail down the Centennial Conference victory.
Slack finished his night with 14 saves in the crease as Muhlenberg held a one shot advantage overall. The Mules also turned the ball over 15 times, compared to just 11 such occurrences for the visiting Fords. Chandler Todd recorded two of Haverford's five caused turnovers, while Anthony Vizzoni, Rob Carpenter, and Max Ellis each had one caused turnover for the Haverford defense. Jonathan Frost, who won nine face-offs for the Fords, matched Ellis by collecting a team-best three ground balls.
Men's lacrosse will return home this Saturday for its first of three straight Centennial Conference home dates. The first of those contests will be 3 p.m. face-off on Saturday against Franklin & Marshall. That game will be part of a lacrosse doubleheader with the women's game starting at noon.