HAVERFORD, Pa. - The Haverford College women's lacrosse team (4-2) got past visiting Scranton (1-4), taking a 16-12 victory on Tuesday afternoon at Swan Field. The Royals pulled to within one goal at the end of the third quarter, but Haverford closed the contest on a 4-1 run to take full control for the victory.
Lia Herzig, Katharine Ference, and Tiffany Mikulis each tallied hat-tricks in the matinee, while Brooke Epstein and Sam Silverman also all added a pair of tallies. Silverman and Ference added two assists to the impressive stat line. Annie Bravacos picked up her second win of the season, making 10 saves in her 60 minutes between the pipes, also scooping four ground balls. Ference tallied six draw controls, while Mikulis added five. Silverman and Healy each caused a pair of turnovers.
In a chippy game that took some time to establish a rhythm, it was the Fords jetting out to a 3-1 advantage as Silverman lit the lamp at 14:24 remaining to open the scoring. A free-position from Devyn Tanajewski tied the contest, but Haverford rattled off consecutive goals from Nancy Tucker and Silverman for a 3-1 lead with the clock showing 10:43 in the first period. Grace Lane was a standout for the visitors all day long, and scored three quick goals in a 4-0 run for Scranton, with the visitors taking a 6-4 lead with just 16 seconds remaining in the first period.
Haverford had an answer in the second period, unleashing a 4-0 run of its own behind two goals from Mikulis as well as tallies from Ference and Jordan Denaver. Lane tallied to cut the lead to just one, and Scranton tied the score at 8-8 with Kayleigh Stalter's player-up goal. From that point, Haverford weaved another methodically paced 4-0 run, wrapped around the halftime intermission with Ference scoring twice between strikes from Herzig and Tucker, as Haverford was in command up four with 9:57 left in the third.
Undaunted, Scranton responded with a 3-0 run, pulling back to within one as Lane again put her imprint into the contest with a goal and an assist in that stretch. Scranton would not lead again in the contest, as Haverford then went back to work to add another 4-0 run to its ledger, with Herzig and Epstein each scoring twice to help put things away for the hosts, now up by a game-best five goals with 4:17 to play. Scranton added an unassisted strike from Lane in the final seconds to reflect the four-goal margin.
Lane was a force with six goals and two assists to pace her squad. Kayleigh Stalter and Molly MCCarren each added a pair of goals. McCarren collected three ground balls while Tanajewski was everywhere in the midfield ,with eight draw controls and a caused turnover for the visitors. Lauren Boldis notched eight saves in goal and collected four ground balls. The Fords improved to 9-2 all-time in the series with Scranton. Each contest since 2012 has been decided by five goals or less.
Haverford will now next be in action on Saturday, March 18, traveling to No. 10 York for a 1 p.m. opening draw against the Spartans. The contest will represent the final non-conference tuneup before conference play opens at Dickinson on March 25.