RADNOR, Pa. - The Haverford College men's lacrosse team (0-1) dropped its 2024 season opener to Cabrini (1-0), a team receiving votes in the USILA Preseason poll, by a 17-10 final on Saturday at a snowy Edith Robb Dixon Field on the Cabrini campus.
Matt Richards led the Fords in scoring with four goals, while Evan Wolpert found the back of the net three times in the matchup. Each tallied a hat-trick with three consecutive Haverford goals at intervals during the contest, with Wolpert achieving that feat in the first half and Richards tallying three consecutive Ford goals in the second.
Reigning All-American goalkeeper Jacob Abraham was put to the test, racking up 17 saves. Senior faceoff specialist Teddy Carlin paved the way in ground balls with six, while Ronan West and Sean McHugh each had two caused turnovers in the afternoon.
As a team, the Fords went 10-for-15 in clear attempts and held onto a small 31-28 ground ball advantage over the Cavaliers.
After the start of the contest was delayed an hour due to early morning snowfall, Will Graves scored the first goal of the season just 1:44 into the game. Cabrini answered back quickly, as Tommy Vaughan scored to even the game with 7:53 left in the opening quarter.
The Fords regained the lead again at the 4:13 mark when Reid Tietjen fired one past the Cavalier goaltender to go up 2-1. Cabrini then rattled off three unanswered goals to close out the first quarter with a 4-2 lead over the visitors.
To open up the second stanza, Cabrini struck for three more unanswered goals, taking a commanding 7-2 lead with 11:13 left in the first half. Wolpert broke the unanswered scoring streak of Cabrini by finding the back of the net to pull the Fords within four with 10:13 to go in the first half. Wolpert added one more less than a minute later, only to be answered by another Cabrini goal as the score sat 8-4 Cavaliers with 6:51 flashing on the scoreboard. Wolpert capped off a strong second quarter to trim the Cabrini lead down to 8-5, while Tietjen pulled the Fords even closer with his second goal of the game, trimming the lead to 8-6. The Cavaliers closed out the half with a small 2-0 run to head into the halftime break up 10-8.
Following the intermission, Cabrini posted two more goals before Richards broke the scoring drought for the Scarlet and Black at 8:46, with the Fords still staring at a 12-7 deficit. Holding a five-goal advantage, the hosts went on a 4-0 scoring run to head into the fourth and final quarter up 16-7.
The final stanza witnessed just four goals as Haverford tried to chip away at a nine-goal buffer. Richards ripped three goals past the Cavalier goaltender in the frame, but it was too little, too late for the Scarlet and Black as Cabrini prevailed in the season lid lifter.
The Fords will now return to action next Saturday in the 2024 home opener as Lebanon Valley rolls into town for a 1 p.m. matchup at Swan Field.