SWARTHMORE, Pa. — The No. 23 Haverford College women's lacrosse team (12-5, 7-1 CC) earned the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Centennial Conference Tournament for the first time in program history following a dominant 17–5 victory over Hood Trophy rival Swarthmore (12-4, 5-3 CC) on Saturday afternoon at Clothier Field. The win marks the 13th-straight victory over the Garnet and secures another point in the Hood Trophy rivalry.
The postseason berth marks the fifth straight season the Fords have qualified for the Centennial Conference Tournament and the seventh appearance under head coach Katie Wertman.
Haverford was powered by four players each recording five points. Brooke Epstein tallied five points on four goals and one assist, moving within three points of tying Liz Ames '99/00 for second all-time in program history with 279 career points. Kylie McNamara matched a season-high five points with five goals, surpassing the 100-career point mark. Daniela Martini added five points on three goals and two assists, while Sophie Jaffe contributed five points with one goal and four assists.
Defensively, Finley Jordan caused a game-high three turnovers, moving into fifth all-time in that category, while Lauren Anderson collected a game-high four ground balls. In goal, Shaina Lewis made eight saves, and Ella Salvador added one stop in relief.
The Fords wasted little time getting started, as McNamara scored at 14:23 off an assist from Mikelle Smith to make the score 1–0. Epstein followed at 11:29 to extend the lead to 2–0. Swarthmore answered with a goal from C. Rodrigues-Reilly at 6:28 to make the score 2–1, but the Scarlet and Black responded with a player-up free-position goal from Epstein at 5:09 to extend the lead to 3–1. McNamara added another player-up tally at 4:14, assisted by Jaffe, to make the score 4–1 at the end of the first quarter.
The Garnet opened the second quarter scoring with a goal from Aubree Daugherty at 14:18 to make the score 4–2. Haverford answered quickly, as McNamara converted a free-position attempt at 13:03 to extend the lead to 5–2. Jaffe then found the back of the net off a pass from Martini to make the score 6–2, before Epstein capitalized on a feed from Jaffe at 11:37 to extend the lead to 7–2. Swarthmore responded with back-to-back goals from Annabel Stifler at 10:51 and Kate Fox at 9:52 to trim the deficit to 7–4. After a player-up goal from Kela Watts made the score 7–5, Martini answered with a goal off an assist from Epstein to extend the lead to 8–5 heading into halftime.
Haverford took control in the third quarter with five unanswered goals. Smith opened the scoring at 14:02 off a pass from Martini to extend the lead to 9–5. Natalie Frekko followed at 12:17, assisted by Bella Gattuso, to make the score 10–5. Louisa Coughlin added a goal at 10:11 to extend the lead to 11–5, before Epstein struck again at 5:47 to make the score 12–5. Martini capped the run at 2:17, finishing a pass from Jaffe to extend the lead to 13–5.
The Scarlet and Black continued to pull away in the fourth quarter. McNamara opened the scoring at 13:26 with a player-down goal off a Jaffe assist to extend the lead to 14–5. Martini added another at 11:19, assisted by Gattuso, to make the score 15–5. McNamara struck again at 7:57 to extend the lead to 16–5, and Kate Peters capped the scoring at 2:40 with a player-up goal off an assist from Maggie Blanford to make the final score 17–5.
Haverford will now gear up for the Centennial Conference Semifinals, set for Friday, May 1 at Swan Field, with opponent and game time to be announced.
