LANCASTER, Pa. - The Haverford College women's lacrosse team (12-6) was defeated in the 2023 Centennial Conference semifinal, a 9-8 loss to Franklin & Marshall (19-4) Friday night on Tom Gilburg Field at Shadek Stadium. Haverford was making its third consecutive CC semifinals appearance.
Katharine Ference led the way for Haverford with three goals, adding one assist. Tiffany Mikulis scored two goals while Sam Silverman finished with a goal and three assists. Both Lizzie Healy and Eva Baumann led the team in caused turnovers with two apiece.
Both teams showed early game nerves as the game between two of the conference's best went scoreless for the opening eight minutes. The Fords struck first with Silverman scoring off a nice pass from Nancy Tucker.
The Fords dominated possession for most of the first period and were able to come up with another goal at the 4:37 mark to push the lead to two. Mikulis took on the F&M defenders herself and scored past the goalkeeper's left shoulder. However, the Diplomats pulled one back shortly after, scoring their first goal of the game at the 3:33 mark., with the goal going to Lauren Pittman.
Sometimes in sports, you create your luck. Ference scored Haverford's third goal of the contest on what was meant to be a pass. All goals count, however, and the Fords took a 3-1 lead into the second period.
Great defense was on display in the second period as both teams found it difficult to gain any space for shots. Annie Bravacos recorded five saves just 20 minutes into the game, with two of them coming in the second.
Ference scored her second goal after a breakaway by Mikulis in which she found Silverman who fed it to Ference for the goal. Haverford now held a 4-1 lead, but the Diplomats answered quickly with a goal from Maddy Birch at the 8:15 mark of the first half.
Jordan Denaver increased the lead back to three after scoring from the free position spot with just under four minutes to play in the half. Continuing with the back-and-forth trend of the game, F&M pulled a goal back immediately after going down by three goals. Madison Bray scored to make the score 5-3, with the Fords still holding the advantage.
Tucker put herself on the scoresheet with under a minute to play, scoring off the pass from Silverman to again push the lead back to three. Haverford picked up a big win on the ensuing draw and earned a penalty from F&M. Haverford, a player-up, was able to find the back of the net with just 0.60 seconds remaining on the clock as Mikulis scored the goal and gave Haverford a 7-3 lead at halftime.
At the half, Haverford outshot the Diplomats 18-11 and won eight of the game's 12 draws. The Fords were just 30 minutes from securing a spot in the championship game but there was no way F&M was going down without a fight in the epic battle.
Franklin & Marshall opened up the second half with three straight goals and were suddenly only down one with 7:52 left in the third period. The Fords settled in slightly but still found themselves without a second-half goal. The Diplomats took full advantage and eventually tied the game at the three-minute mark. The Fords finally got on the board at the 2:08 mark as Ference scored off the feed from Silverman to regain the lead. The F&M scoring run ended at four and at the best time for the Fords, as they needed just an ounce of momentum heading into the final period.
The Diplomats evened the score again with 13 seconds remaining in the third as the game fittingly went into the fourth period tied up at eight apiece.
It took five minutes into the fourth period for a goal to be scored and it came from F&M's Lauren Pittman. Haverford battled for much of the period but it just wasn't enough as they continued to strike out in the goal department. The Fords went down a player with 1:28 left to play and the Diplomats were able to run out the clock with a game of "keep away".
The final buzzer sounded with Haverford losing heartbreakingly for the second time this season to Franklin & Marshall.
With the loss, Haverford now awaits their fate for an NCAA tournament bid as women's lacrosse is currently ranked fifth in Region IV and receiving votes in the national poll. The 2023 NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Selection Show will air Monday, May 8th at 10:30 a.m. on NCAA.com.