HAVERFORD, Pa. - The Haverford College men's lacrosse team (5-7, 1-4 CC) fell short against Washington College (3-8, 2-3 CC), suffering a 15-12 defeat at Swan Field on Saturday. Despite winning 25 of 30 faceoffs, the Fords couldn't match the Shoremen in the final period of action.
Teddy Carlin continues to be a force in the face-off circle. The sophomore finished with 23 faceoff wins for the game, two shy of the program record he set back on February 26. Regardless of the outcome, Carlin is a crucial piece of what Haverford wants to do, and the possessions start with him. Carlin has recorded 152 faceoff wins for the year with a 57.7 winning percentage. Matt Richards was the leading goal scorer for Haverford with a hat-trick on the day. Richards took ten shots and scooped up three ground balls. The Fords weren't short of scorers as nine different players found the back of the net on the afternoon.
Washington College got things started with a man-up goal at the 10:54 mark. Still, Sean Mowatt-Larssen quickly answered with the assist from Wyatt Feinberg. Later, at the 9:15 mark, Eric Dahlberg took the ball himself and weaved through traffic for a goal to give Haverford the 2-1 lead. However, the first period would end with the teams tied after the Shoremen's Cory Morgan scored with three minutes remaining.
The second period was just as even as the first. Haverford took control of the game with back-to-back goals at the 10-minute and 8-minute mark. Andrew Arth took advantage of the Fords being a man-up while Matt Richards scored his first goal of the day two minutes later. Haverford was glowing with confidence behind the big crowd in the stands, but the Shoremen made sure to quiet the noise.
Washington College answered Haverford's two-goal run with four unanswered goals before the clock hit two minutes. Knowing what needed to happen, Matt Richards planted himself in the middle of the defense, where Wyatt Feinberg found him with a perfectly placed pass leading to a goal. Then, with five seconds remaining until halftime, Blake Brinster finished a beautiful pass from Mychal West to tie the game at six. At halftime, the Fords led the shooting battle 28-17, establishing themselves as the more aggressive team, but it didn't match the score line.
The Shoremen scored two unanswered goals to open up the third period as both goals came from Ewan Temple. Seemingly going with the pattern of play, the Fords matched the two goals with two of their own. Mowatt-Larssen finished a feed from Richards while Richards scored the second of the run on the dish from Mychal West.
Neither team wanted to give an inch. For the third time in the period, a team scored back-to-back goals when Washington College's Temple and Dylan Kilroy scored at the 7:09 and 5:17 mark. With three minutes remaining in the period, Will Graves pulled a goal back for the Fords to make the score 10-9. It was Graves' tenth goal of the season.
Eight goals were scored in the final period, five of them coming from Washington College. The difference between the two teams was a four-goal unanswered run for the Shoremen. The score sat at 15-10 in favor of Washington College before Peter Christians, and Gray Pollock scored late to bring the Fords a little closer. Evan Wolpert scored the Fords' only other goal of the period as Washington College handed the Fords their fourth conference loss of the season.
Carlin, who dominated the faceoffs, finished with 13 ground balls, while Dahlberg was second on the team with five. Haverford won most of the statistical battles but unfortunately did not have enough quality looks at the net to turn those into a win.
Men's Lacrosse now looks to bounce back in an away contest with Muhlenberg under the lights on Wednesday, April 20. Opening faceoff is slated for 7 p.m in Allentown.