HAVERFORD, Pa. - The Dickinson women's lacrosse team entered Saturday's Centennial Conference opener at 25th-ranked Haverford College feeling good riding a four-game winning streak. Unfortunately, that run came to an end at a rain-soaked Swan Lake (we mean Field) as the Fords secured a 13-6 win.

Two minutes into the game Dickinson had a chance to open up the scoring, but Lizzie Symonds denied Delaney Herbert which allowed for Brooke Epstein to best DC goalie Peyton VanDorpe 45-seconds later. However, the Red and White responded less than 30-ticks after that when Abby Geary found the back of the net. That was followed by Faith Parker winning the ensuing draw control and getting the rock ahead to Geary who deposited her second of the contest. Haverford came back with the next three shots as Tiffany Mikulis missed high and Daniela Martini was shutdown by VanDorpe, before she collected her own rebound to tie things up. A free-position marker for Syd MacKeigan put the visitors back on top, but goals from Abby Bonner and Mikulis gave the hosts a slim 4-3 edge through one. 

Dickinson opened up the second by recording the first three shots with Geary and MacKeigan going off the target, prior to Geary finding Sage Whiteside for the finish leveling the game at 4-4 with 3:14 gone. Unfortunately, for the Red and White they were held without a shot over the next five minutes while at the other end the Fords netted four straight tallies with the final one coming from Epstein to make it 8-4 still with six minutes remaining. Dickinson finally attempted another shot at the 11:28 mark when Geary went wide of goal and later in the period Bella Guckes clanged the pipe. However, Bonner would hit the net one more time during that stretch to hand HC a 9-4 advantage going to the break. 

Haverford needed just 63-seconds into the third to hit double-digits as Sophie Jaffe found Ellie Hughes for the finish. After a denial of Jaffe by VanDorpe, the Devils made their first shot of the frame count Guckes solving Symonds to trim it down to 10-5 with 5:30 left. Epstein would then bag another one 40-seconds later pushing the margin to 11-5. Liz Barroll and Whiteside (2) each got looks at cage inside the final couple of minutes, but Symonds had the answer every time sending the game to the fourth at 11-5.

Once again the Fords began the quarter with an early goal when Mikulis setup Kylie McNamara with 1:28 gone. Over the next five minutes the visitors were not given many chances to chip away at the deficit as Epstein, Hughes and Mikulis missed the target, while MacKeigan was stopped by Symonds. Following another save from VanDorpe, Emma Wynne and Whiteside had looks at cage, but could not finish until Herbert ripped one past the keeper with 2:33 to go triming score to 12-6. Epstein ended the scoring for the afternoon at the 13:30 mark to set the 13-6 final.

Red Devil Leaders
Goals -  Geary (2)
Assists - Geary, Herbert, Parker and Wynne (1)
Groundballs - VanDorpe (5), Parker (3)
Draw Controls - Parker (6), Whiteside (4), Herbert (2)
Saves - VanDorpe (6)

Ford Leaders
Goals - Epstein (4), Bonner and Mikulis (3)
Assist - Jaffe and McNamara (2)
Groundballs - Symonds (5), Anderson and Coughlin (3)
Draw Controls - Mikulis (5), Coughlin and Epstein (2)
Saves - Symonds (6)

Next on the Turf
Dickinson (6-3, 0-1 Centennial) is back in action a week from today, Saturday, March 30th at 12pm when they host the Owls of Bryn Mawr College in conference play.  Read Full Article