HAVERFORD, Pa. – Making its first appearance in the Centennial Conference postseason playoffs, the Haverford College women's lacrosse team battled its way into the semifinals after an opening round, 11-9, victory over visiting Dickinson College under the lights of Swan Field Wednesday night.
The Fords (13-4), who reached 13 wins for the first time in program history, will play the 5th-ranked Bullets from Gettysburg College (15-2) at 1 p.m., Saturday, May 1, in the first of two semifinal games in Gettysburg, Pa. Dickinson's season ends with the loss leaving its record at 9-6 for the season.
Wednesday's game was a game of spurts for both teams as the Fords led off with a pair of goals, first from Josie Ferri then from Perrin Downing, followed by an equal response from the Red Devils. Haverford's Kayleigh Herrick-Reynolds scored the next three goals and the Fords eventually took a 6-4 lead into the halftime break.
Dickinson came out smoking after the break, though, netting three unanswered goals to pull ahead by one after only five minutes of second period action, but Haverford had an answer and put three in the net to carve out a 9-7 lead approaching the midpoint of the half.
The Red Devils rallied to tie the score at nine but the Fords picked up goals from Alexa Pesce and Ferri then regained possession after a Dickinson turnover and held on for more than three minutes down the stretch allowing just one more uneventful thrust late in the game by the visitors.
Herrick-Reynolds, Ferri and Pesce each scored three goals for Haverford in the win while Dickinson was led offensively by Kaity Moore's four goals.
Leah Hammerschlag registered three saves in between the pipes for the Fords to earn the victory while Grace Stockbower helped the defensive effort with a game-high three caused turnovers. Jessie Clark finished with six saves in goal for the Red Devils.
The winner of Saturday's Gettysburg-Haverford match-up will play in Sunday's championship final against the winner of the other semifinal which pits No. 7 Franklin & Marshall College against Ursinus College.
