SCRANTON, Pa. - The Haverford College women's lacrosse team (2-1) caught fire in the fourth quarter, but the epic comeback bid against Scranton (3-1) fell one goal short, 11-10, on Weiss Field Saturday afternoon.
Brooke Epstein and Tiffany Mikulis paced the Fords in goals on the day with three each, with the latter scoring all three goals in the final eight minutes of the contest. Daniela Martini built upon her three-point performance against Widener by finding the back of the net twice against the Royals, while Kylie Kearon and Abby Bonner fired in one goal each.
On the defensive side, Eva Baumann was a force in the backfield, causing four turnovers and scooping up four ground balls.
The opening quarter saw seven goals between the two teams, in a true back-and-forth battle. Martini opened up the scoring for the Fords with 12:58 left in the first quarter, only to have her goal answered by Scranton's Jillian Lopez less than a minute later to even the game at one. Eileen Hewitt then put the Royals up 2-1, just to have Martini find nylon for the second time in the quarter to knot the game at two. Haverford took their second lead of the game after Epstein rifled one past the Scranton goalkeeper, giving Haverford a 3-2 lead with 3:54 left in quarter number one. Down 3-2, the Royals scored two unanswered goals to take a small 4-3 lead into the second quarter.
Much like the beginning stanza, quarter number two was filled with high scoring action. Two more unanswered goals from Scranton to start off the second quarter gave the hosts a little more breathing room, 6-3, with 13:59 remaining in the half.
Epstein then quickly completed her hat-trick, adding in two more goals to help the Scarlet and Black pull within one goal, 6-5, with 10:17 to go in the second period. Following an Erin Reich goal that pushed the Royals' lead back up to 7-5, goals from Bonner and Kearon leveled the game up at 7-7, to head into halftime with both teams deadlocked for the fourth time in the contest.
The third quarter was all Scranton, as three consecutive goals from Grace Lane, Hewitt, and Stalter fueled a 10-7 Royals' advantage heading into the final quarter.
The fourth quarter became the Mikulis show for the Fords, as the midfielder scored with 7:34 remaining to pull the Fords within two goals,10-8. A man-up goal from Lane, who scored her third of the matchup, extended the host's lead back to three, 11-8, with just 7:07 left in the final quarter. Mikulis then helped the Scarlet and Black claw back, scoring the next two goals, as Haverford trailed Scranton 11-10 with only 3:50 to go. With not a lot of time left, the Royals did their best to keep the ball away from the Fords, and succeeded, holding on to a hard-fought 11-10 victory.
Following the nail biter in the electric city, the women's lacrosse team will return to Swan Field for their next battle, as they will host #7 York College on Wednesday, March 6, at 4 p.m.