ALLENTOWN, Pa. - The Haverford College men's lacrosse team (7-7, 3-3 CC) suffered a Centennial Conference defeat to Muhlenberg (8-7, 5-2), a team receiving votes in the latest USILA poll, falling by a 19-10 under the bright lights of Scotty Wood Stadium on the campus of Muhlenberg College.
Fresh off securing his 100th career point against McDaniel on Saturday, Reid Tietjen paced the Fords in scoring Wednesday evening, finding the back of the net three times against the Mules. Evan Wolpert and Matt Richards provided two goals each, with the latter notching two assists.
On the ground, Wolpert collected four ground balls in total, while Tietjen and Danny Hoehler both scooped up three ground balls each. Defensively, Ronan West caused a team-high two turnovers.
At the face-off X, Teddy Carlin won seven faceoffs, West picked up two faceoff wins, while Sean McHugh came away with one. Between the pipes, Jacob Abraham faced 35 shots, denying 16.
Andrew Sellitto began the scoring for the Mules, ripping a shot into the back of the net to give the hosts an early 1-0 lead before Richards leveled the game at 1-1 at the 8:37 mark. Wolpert scored his first goal of the contest at 8:05 to give the visitors a 2-1 lead before Muhlenberg went on a 4-0 scoring run to take a 5-2 lead with 3:05 remaining in the opening quarter. The final two minutes of the quarter saw both teams score a goal each as the Mules carried a 6-3 lead into the second quarter.
After Muhlenberg scored two unanswered goals to begin the second quarter, the Scarlet and Black began to chip away at the hosts lead after two straight goals from Tietjen pulled the Fords within three, 8-5, with 10:30 to go in the first half. Jack Taub snapped the unanswered scoring run by the Fords at the 9:50 mark before Tietjen fired in his third goal of the game to keep the gap within three, 9-6, with just 4:35 remaining in the second stanza. A man-up goal by the Mules with 2:04 left in the first half extended the host's lead by four as Haverford trailed 10-6 headed into the halftime break.
A 5-0 Muhlenberg scoring run to begin the second half pushed the Mules lead to 15-6 at the 4:16 mark of the third quarter before Jonathan Moon got one past the Muhlenberg goalkeeper Max Kunnath on a man-up advantage to bring the deficit down to 15-7. However, Jack Bill boosted the Mule's lead back up to 16-7 as Haverford stared at a nine-goal gap with just 15 minutes to go.
To begin the final quarter, Tyler Vendetti and Seamus McNally found the back of the net before another 4-0 scoring run by Muhlenberg widened the host's advantage to 19-9 with 7:49 remaining in the game. Richards scored his second goal of the contest with 4:21 to go in the fourth quarter, but it was too little, too late for the Fords as the Mules prevailed 19-10 over Haverford.
Men's lacrosse returns home to Swan Field on Saturday, April 20, as the Fords welcome No. 7 Dickinson to the 'Ford for a Centennial Conference matchup beginning at 3 p.m.
Before the game, there will be a Senior Day Ceremony, honoring the nine seniors of Haverford College men's lacrosse for their hard work and dedication over the past four seasons.