HAVERFORD, Pa. - The 23rd-ranked Haverford College women's lacrosse team (7-3, 3-0 CC) secured its third consecutive Centennial Conference victory on a windy and rain-soaked night at Swan Field, clinching a 12-7 win over visiting Washington College (7-4, 1-2 CC). This is the second consecutive season the Fords have began the season 3-0 in conference play.
Brooke Epstein continued her torrid season with four more goals and two assists, while Kylie McNamara added a hat-trick, and Kylie Kearon scored two goals and contributed an assist. Sophie Jaffe registered a goal and an assist, as did Daniela Martini. Tiffany Mikulis dominated with a game-best four draw controls, while Eva Baumann stood out defensively with a game-best five caused turnovers and four ground balls.
Lizzie Symonds excelled in goal, securing her fifth victory of the season with 10 saves. Haverford held a 20-15 edge in ground balls while preventing the Shorewomen from taking any free-position shots in the contest.
Epstein opened the scoring at the 12:08 mark of the first half with a free-position goal, followed by Morgan Sutherland's goal less than two minutes later. Kearon gave the Fords an early 2-1 lead with 8:34 to play, but a quick 2-0 run from the visitors, with Abby Laubach adding a pair in the stretch, gave Washington College its first lead of the game at 3-2.
From that point, Haverford unleashed a methodical 5-0 run, taking a 7-3 lead after Jaffe found McNamara for her first goal of the contest at the 5:58 mark of the second quarter. The run, which spanned the first quarter break, also featured goals from Martini, Kearon, Mikulis, and Epstein. Piper Evans cut the lead to three goals with 4:22 to play, but Haverford tallied just before halftime, with Epstein finding Jaffe to restore a four-goal cushion.
In a defensively-minded third quarter, Washington College grabbed a pair of early tallies, reducing the deficit to just two goals as Tobin Chambers lit the lamp, but Epstein guided the Fords towards victory with a goal with 1:55 to play in the third.
Haverford then battled through a physical stretch that featured four yellow or green cards in just over a minute of play, adding a player-down tally from McNamara with 12:29 to play. Epstein scored unassisted with just under six minutes left in regulation, and McNamara added her third of the day off a feed from Martini with 2:22 to play, this time with the Fords a player up.
Tobin Chambers scored with under a minute left for the Shorewomen, but Haverford was content to run out the clock with the five-goal cushion.
Laubach (two goals, one assist) was among the key contributors for the visitors, while McKenna Seashole kept her team in the contest with eight saves in 60 minutes between the pipes.
Haverford now embarks on a road swing for the next two weekends, facing off against McDaniel (April 6) and No. 7 Gettysburg (April 13) before returning home for the annual One Love Game against Ursinus on April 17 (7 p.m.).