April 21, 2012
Playoff Bound! Women's Lacrosse Reaches Postseason With 11-8 Win Over Rival Haverford, 11-8
SWARTHMORE, Pa. - In a statement 11-8 victory over the Haverford Fords (6-10, 4-5 CC), the Swarthmore women's lacrosse team (11-5, 5-4 CC) qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2006 on a sunny Saturday afternoon at Swan Field.
Leading the charge for the Garnet was junior Annalise Penikis, who scored four goals and had one assist. Sophomore Corinne Sommi scored two goals and added two assists and senior Marie Mutryn also contributed two goals. Scoring one goal each were junior Beth Martin, junior Nicole Vanchieri, and freshman Sara Lentricchia.
With the win, the Garnet secured the No. 5 seed for the upcoming Centennial playoffs will play at No. 4 seed Ursinus on Wednesday at a time to be determined.
For the Fords, Josie Ferri lead the team with three goals. Perrin Downing and Diana Perry both scored two goals a piece. Megan Gallagher added one goal.
The first half would see much back and forth play with the Garnet only leading by a slim margin at its conclusion.
Haverford started things off with a goal from Ferri in the second minute, but Sommi would answer about a minute later to make the game 1-1.
The Fords then scored two more goals less than a minute apart in the eighth minute to go ahead 3-1. But the Garnet saw its offense kick into gear.
After eleven minutes of scoreless play thanks to the stingy defensive units of both team, Swarthmore went on a four-goal streak that would see goals from Vanchieri, Sommi, Mutryn, and Penikis that put them ahead 5-3 with about four minutes remaining in the half.
Ferri added her second goal of the game with less than thirty seconds left in the half to narrow the Garnet lead to one (5-4) going into the half.
The Garnet's offensive work in the second half proved critical. Penikis opened up the half with a goal within the first twenty seconds and Martin followed three minutes later to put Swarthmore ahead by three (7-4).
Haverford's Downing then scored to reduce Swarthmore's lead to two. But Penikis struck back to give the Garnet some more breathing room and made the score 8-5 with about twenty two minutes left in the match.
Gallagher scored shortly afterward thanks to a free position opportunity, but Penikis again would fight back and sneak one past the goalie on a free position attemp to make the score 9-6 in the Garnet's favor.
Minutes later, Mutryn scored to put the Garnet ahead by four. The Fords would score two more in the last minutes of play to bring the game within two (10-8), but Lentricchia added the clincher with five minutes left to play. The score would stand and the Garnet won by a score of 11-8.
Garnet goalie sophomore Michelle Ammerman recorded seven saves and Haverford goalie Leah Hammerschlag had nine saves.
The time of Wednesday's Centennial playoff game at Ursinus has yet to be determined. Check back on Monday for updates.
