HAVERFORD, Pa. - Opening up the spring break portion of its schedule with a home contest against Scranton (1-3), the Haverford College women's lacrosse team (2-0) registered a 15-12 victory over the Royals, behind four goals each from Callie Crawford and Roma Hladky, as well as three from Katharine Ference. Sarah Cahn picked up the win in goal with 10 saves between the pipes.
Scranton got on the board first, with Grace Lane converting a free-position strike in the opening moments of play. Undaunted, it was Haverford who fired back with three consecutive goals, as Ference found the back of the net with 9:42 left in the opening quarter before Crawford and Hladky each connected on free-position tallies. Jennifer Williams put the Royals back within one thanks to her free-position strike with 2:06 left in the first.
Crawford scored her second of the contest with 13:05 remaining in the second, but Scranton then fired off a 3-0 run of their own, taking a 5-4 lead with 7:13 to play in the first half. Hladky was up to the task of putting the Fords right back in the swing of things, giving Haverford a 6-5 lead with back-to-back goals, and Haverford later opened up a three-goal cushion up 8-5 as Crawford and Sam Silverman scored to conclude the first half.
Haverford held the halftime advantage despite Scranton holding the lead in draw controls (10-4). The Fords held a 19-11 shot advantage Ference put the Fords up by four at 9-5 to open the second half scoring, but another run from Scranton put the Royals right back in the contest as Allie Halfpenny and Kayleigh Stalter each scored. Silverman tallied with 7:50 to play, but another 2-0 spurt for the visitors put Scranton within one entering the final frame.
A quick 2-0 response from Haverford looked to give the Fords some breathing room as Crawford and Ference each scored to open the stanza, but a 3-0 Scranton run included goals from Grace Lane, Caroline Miller and Stalter as the contest was tied at 12-12.
Turning on the jets one last time, Silverman was a force on the offensive end, feeding teammates Nancy Tucker and Hladky for goals as Haverford went back in front by a two-goal margin. First year Tiffany Mikulis then scored the final goal of the contest for either side with 3:42 remaining. Silverman had a standout day with two goals, five assists and four ground balls. Mikulis also scooped three ground balls while Maria Krieg was a standout on the defensive end, scooping five.
For the visitors, Stalter led the way with four goals, while Nicolina Mauro was a defensive standout with six ground balls. Lauren Boldis faced 23 shots, making eight saves. Scranton frustrated the Fords rhythm in transition, holding the Fords to 16-23 on clear attempts.
The Fords improved to 8-2 all-time in the series with Scranton. Each contest since 2012 has been decided by five goals or less. Haverford returns to action with a pair of contests on the annual spring break excursion. Haverford heads to the Hampton Roads area of Virginia for a contest with No. 23 Christopher Newport on Wednesday, March 9 (5 p.m.) and will face St. Mary's (Md.) on Saturday, March 12 on the way back from Virginia Beach (1 p.m.).