HAVERFORD, Pa. - The Haverford College men's lacrosse team (1-1) toppled No. 18 Stevens (0-2) by an 11-9 final score on Wednesday night at Swan Field. Kicking off their 50th anniversary season in style at home, the Fords never trailed the Ducks in a methodical and convincing triumph. The victory was Haverford's highest ranked win since the Fords defeated then-No. 10 Dickinson in April of 2019. 

Sean Mowatt-Larssen tallied four goals to lead all scorers, as the senior proved to be the difference maker on the attack line in the early goings. Matt Richards and Andrew Arth also both tallied a hat-trick on the night, with Richards adding two assists as he continues an impressive first month of his first year campaign. First year Colby Freeman again looked up to the task stopping 11 shots in his 60 minutes of action between the pipes.

Haverford began the contest with Richards finding the back of the net early, before an immediate answer from Brendan Sullivan of the Ducks to level the score at 1-1. Haverford then rattled off two more strikes from Arth and Richards, but Michael Burns added one back at the end of the first period as Haverford clung to a one-goal cushion. The second saw the Fords rattle off four unanswered goals heading into the halftime break, taking an 8-3 lead as Mowatt-Larssen tallied three times in that stanza, including a pair of man-up goals. In total, the Fords went 3-5 on their man-up opportunities, making the most of the extra attacker.

With the halftime lead sitting at five, the Fords knew that Stevens would be hungry to even things up immediately out of the gates. Jack Saverse scored directly out of the halftime face-off, but Will Graves converted for the Fords to restore the five-goal advantage. Brendan Sullivan then cut the lead down to just three converting twice in a matter of minutes, but a power play conversion from Arth helped set the tone for the hosts going into the final frame. Arth later found his third of the game with 10:32 to go, and the Fords withstood a late flurry from the Ducks, as the visitors got to within two but could not complete the comeback after a fruitless possession following a timeout in the waning moments. 

For the Fords, a constant defensive pressure frustrated Stevens into avoidable penalties. Nate Rose had two caused turnovers to pace Haverford as six different players forced a turnover on the evening in total. Arth scooped six ground balls while 11 different Fords recorded multiple ground balls on the night. Teddy Carlin helped set the tone at the faceoff X, winning 11 times. The victory was Haverford's first over Stevens since the 1978 season, and evens the all-time series between the two programs at 5-5. 

The Fords now face a quick turnaround, with a Saturday contest at home against Mary Washington. The start time for that game with the Eagles is slated for noon on Swan Field as the two sides meet for the first time since 1999.