CARLISLE, Pa. - The Haverford College women's lacrosse team (5-3, 1-0 CC) opened up Centennial Conference play by downing hosts Dickinson (6-2, 0-1 CC), taking an 11-10 victory on Saturday afternoon at the Biddle Field Complex. In the wet and rainy conditions the Red Devils rallied back from down five goals but a goal in the final minute from Tiffany Mikulis closed the contest.
Mikulis registered four goals, and two assists, and scooped up six ground balls to lead the Fords. Nancy Tucker also came up huge for Haverford, scoring four goals and tallying one assist. Annie Bravacos stood between the pipes for Haverford and recorded six saves.
The Red Devils scored first at the 12:42 mark making it well known that they would compete. The Fords would follow it up with two shots on the net but both would be saved by the Dickinson goalkeeper. Tiffany Mikulis eventually opened the scoring for the Fords at 6:53 quickly after a free-position miss from Lia Herzig.
Haverford controlled the draws in the early minutes, earning key possessions but a majority of them came up empty after Dickinson's defense consistently caused turnovers.
Both teams struggled with the weather as the hosts could barely hold onto the ball themselves. The first period saw a total of eleven turnovers. However, Haverford started to turn things around. The Fords took the lead after Nancy found a slashing Mikulis in the middle and the Sophomore would fire it home with just under 5 minutes left to play.
Kat Ference registered her first assist of the contest after finding a cutting Sam Silverman who beat the goalie to extend the lead to 3-1. However, Dickinson would pull a goal back before the end of the period as Delaney Herbert found the back of the net.
Dickinson wasted no time in the second period to tie the game up as the Red Devils scored at the 13:26 mark Haverford continued to get opportunities but were just misfiring as shots would keep missing wide.
The Fords were coming up on a 20-minute scoreless drought before a break from Mikulis put pressure on the Dickinson defense. She would eventually find Brooke Epstein wide open in front of the goal, who scored to give the lead back to Haverford.
At the 3:45 mark, the lead extended to two following a timeout from the Fords when Silverman found Nancy Tucker right in front of the goal. Tucker realized how open she was and fired the ball past the goalie as quickly as she caught it. Tucker then scored her second goal a minute later with the assist going to Eva Baumann, who ran the break to perfection.
Haverford would tally their fourth unanswered goal of the period as Tucker completed her hattrick with 27 seconds remaining in the period.
Halftime came with the Fords letting in a goal with just 2.2 remaining on the clock. Despite the late second goal, the Fords were still in complete control of the action. Through two periods, Haverford outshot Dickinson 17-9 and was also ahead in the battle for ground balls (16-11). Herzig was all over the field in the first half, scooping up three of those ground balls and causing a turnover.
Alexis Brown also made her mark in the first half, causing a game-high three turnovers. With the defense starting to lock things down and Tucker controlling action on the offensive end, the Fords looked well on their way to earning their first conference win of the season.
Tucker picked up right where left off, with a goal at the 12:05 mark to open the scoring in the second half. Haverford held the Red Devils scoreless for the first six minutes of the third period until Riley Kuehn found the back of the net, decreasing the deficit to three.
Abby Bonner got in on the scoring to give Haverford a 9-5 lead moments later. The defense for the Fords continued to shut down the middle, not giving the hosts any clean looks at the net. Baumann and Brown moved their feet well to keep up with the Dickinson attackers, giving Bravacos little to do between the pipes. Jacquelyn Jardini was also instrumental in moments on defense, causing a turnover in the third period.
Haverford was in a comfortable position until the Red Devils rattled off two goals in the final minute of the period. Kuehn, who was behind Dickinson's late clock goal in the second period, scored again with a late clock, this time right at the buzzer. A thrilling fourth period would be on deck with the Fords clinging onto a two-goal advantage.
The Red Devils decreased the deficit to one with a goal at the 13:28 mark and then tied the game soon after. The pressure was now on the Fords to regain control of possession of the draw but Haverford couldn't recreate the success they had in the first half.
The Red Devils called timeout with nine minutes remaining and were now ahead of Haverford in shot attempts, 25-24. Ground balls evened up as well with Haverford only leading that battle 21-19. It was going to take a solid defensive performance from the Fords following the timeout and they would get it done.
Silverman scooped up a ground ball off the Dickinson turnover to give Haverford possession. Herzig was then able to find Mikulis for her third goal and the Fords' tenth goal of the game.
Herzig then won the draw control and fired off three shots to no success. Peyton VanDorpe seemed to save everything the Fords shot at her as she totaled 13 saves with still five minutes left to play.
Dickinson tied the game up with a player-up goal at 4:58 following a penalty on Tucker making the next draw control crucial. The Fords would eventually gain possession after that draw and eyes on taking the lead. Silverman would fire a shot but it sailed wide with Dickinson taking over possession and calling a timeout with 3:26 remaining in a tie game.
The hosts would come up empty on their possession with the ground ball going to Mikulis. After a successful clear, it was now Haverford's turn to call a timeout with 1:46 left to play.
Haverford worked the ball around and eventually drew a foul from Dickinson, setting up a free position attempt. Mikulis stepped up for the attempt and fired it past the goalie to give the Fords an 11-10 lead with 1:10 left on the clock.
Ference won the ensuing draw control but with the Fords struggling with the pressure from the Red Devils, called a timeout with 49 seconds left in the contest. Haverford came out of the timeout and held onto the ball beautifully to run out the clock and earn the win.
Centennial Conference play continues for the Fords on Saturday, April 1 as they take on the visiting Muhlenberg Mules at home on Swan Field. The game is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. as it will follow the men's contest with Gettysburg that is scheduled for noon.