ANNVILLE, Pa. – The (RV) Haverford College men's lacrosse team (2-1) defeated non-conference opponent Lebanon Valley (0-2) 17-9 on Arnold Field at Lebanon Valley College.
Evan Wolpert had an extraordinary day, leading the team with five goals, while Matt Richards and Colin Hulett added two goals each. Drew Buck went 13-22 at the faceoff X, while tying Ronan West with five ground balls. In between the posts, Jacob Abraham stopped 10 of 19 shots faced.
It was all Haverford in the first quarter, as the Fords went on a 5-0 scoring run in the first seven minutes of the contest. Five different goal scorers contributed to the momentous run: Richards, West, Jonathan Moon, D'Andre Chaney, and Braeden Hulett, all found the back of the net. At the 2:14 mark of the first quarter, Lebanon Valley finally halted the Fords' run, as Jake Bollinger scored a goal for the hosts. However, the goal was quickly answered by Kolin Brandeis with just 35 seconds left in the opening stanza, helping the Fords end the first quarter with a 6-1 lead.
The Scarlet and Black scored two unanswered goals to begin the second quarter, as Moon and Richards both scored their second goals of the day. Goals from Sean Poole and Bollinger of the Dutchmen trimmed the visitors' lead down to 8-3 with 8:58 remaining in the first half. Philip Passalaqua notched his first goal of the game to extend the Fords' lead to 9-3, before Bollinger collected his third goal of the game, cutting Haverford's lead to 9-4 with 3:50 to go in the second quarter. A goal from Wolpert at the 2:31 mark would be the final goal of the half, as the Fords took a 10-4 advantage into the halftime break.
The start of the third quarter saw Poole notch his second goal of the game, only to be answered by Wolpert's second of the contest, pushing Haverford's lead to 11-5. With 6:01 left in the third period, John Lux brought the game within five, 11-6, with his first goal of the game. Wolpert then scored his third and fourth goals of the day, giving the Fords a 13-6 lead. Nick Snyder's first goal of the season elevated the lead to 14-6, wrapping up the third quarter.
With 13:40 to go in the game, Hulett scored a man-up goal to give the Scarlet and Black a 15-6 lead, before Wolpert's fifth goal of the game and Hulett's second goal bolstered the visitors' advantage to 17-6. Bollinger's fourth goal of the game at the 9:42 mark cut it to a 17-7 battle, before two more goals from the Dutchmen in the final five minutes rounded out the 17-9 Haverford victory.
Men's lacrosse will return to action on Wednesday, February 26, as the Fords host the Widener Pride at 7 p.m.
