Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 4/30/16
From Press Release
Saturday’s men’s lacrosse game had the makings of an instant classic—the emotional charge of playing on senior day in front of a large crowd of family and alumni against local rival Haverford for the right to play in the Centennial Conference postseason.
Swat Lacrosse celebrates its first-ever Centennuial Conferencde playoff berth
Since the adoption of the Centennial’s tournament format in 2001, the Garnet had never made an appearance.
That changed on Saturday afternoon as Swarthmore College Men’s Lacrosse held off the visiting Haverford College Fords 8-7 and earned the fourth and final seed in the postseason tournament.
Swarthmore goalie Cole Fox recorded nine saves to earn the win and made five of those saves in the all-important fourth quarter. Fox denied Haverford’s literal last-second attempt at tying the game, securing the victory for Swarthmore.
Matt Johnson’s goal with 6:23 left in the third quarter was the difference. After a restart from the end line, Cam Marsh dumped the ball to Johnson who snuck right in the middle of four defenders, caught the pass and tallied the man-up goal with a quick stick-side snap.
Johnson’s goal marked his third of the day, a game-high, and his fourth hat trick of the season. He’s scored 27 goals this year to lead the Garnet.
Marsh added two goals for the Garnet and had that one assist. Dylan Rittenhouse (Downingtown West), Will Black and Griffin Johnston also scored.
Marsh put the Garnet on the board first, scoring four minutes into the game. However, Haverford rallied for four goals over the next 15 minutes. Not to be out done, Swarthmore posted five straight goals, regaining the lead with just 12 seconds left in the first half. Johnson juked his defender, sending him to the ground, and whipped a sidearm shot home from mid-range.
Two goals in the third quarter allowed Haverford to knot the game at 7-7.
Swarthmore tallied 33 ground balls and 12 caused turnovers in the win. Christian Vik (Princeton Day School) registered team-highs with five ground balls and three caused turnovers.
Swarthmore (10-5, 5-3 Centennial) plays against host and top seed Gettysburg on Wednesday at 4 p.m. in the Centennial semifinals.