Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 2/20/25 – From Press Release
Tyler Vendetti scored in overtime as the Haverford College men’s lacrosse team defeated visiting Arcadia, 10-9, Wednesday evening on a frigid night at Swan Field.
Matt Richards led the Fords (1-1) offense with five goals, while D’Andre Chaney recorded two assists. In the faceoff X, a committee approach saw Braeden Hulett, Ronan West, and Drew Buck each win two faceoffs. On the ground, Ronan West and Antonin Hoppmann-Salario scooped up five ground balls each, while in goal, Jacob Abraham made 14 stops on 23 shots faced, and gathered a team-high six ground balls.
Arcadia took an early 2-0 lead, as two unassisted goals from Dylan Garber broke through the Haverford defense. The Fords answered with a man-up goal from Richards, trimming the lead to 2-1 with 2:29 left in the opening quarter. However, the Knights went up 3-1 when Tristan Johnson ripped a shot past Abraham with 1:44 remaining in the period. A Kyle McLaughlin (New Hope-Solebury) goal then extended Arcadia’s advantage to 4-1 with just nine seconds left in the first quarter as the visitors seemed to be rolling.
Haverford got on the board first in the second quarter, scoring just 10 seconds into the frame as Richards netted his second goal of the day. The senior’s goal sparked a tidy 3-0 run for the Fords, with goals from Chaney at the 10:31 mark and Philip Passalaqua at 8:39, tying the game at 4-4. Garber notched his third goal of the contest to reclaim Arcadia’s lead briefly, before goals from Richards and Evan Wolpert gave the Fords their first lead of the game, 6-5. However, the Knights leveled the score at 6-6 as Johnson found the net again, sending both teams into halftime tied.
With 3:28 left in the third quarter, Wolpert found the net once more, giving Haverford a 7-6 advantage after a long scoreless stretch from both sides. Arcadia responded with a Gavin Lenart (Wilson) goal, leveling the score at 7-7 as the teams entered the final quarter.
The fourth quarter saw the back-and-forth battle continue. Richards struck first for the Fords, regaining the lead for the hosts. The Knights answered with a man-up goal from Nick Mormando (Interboro) at 5:20, putting Arcadia ahead 8-7. Mormando later found the net again at 2:49, giving the Knights a narrow 9-8 lead.
However, a heroic goal from Richards in the closing moments, assisted by Jonathan Moon, sent both teams into overtime with the score tied at 9-9.
With just 51 seconds remaining in the first overtime, Wolpert made a move and passed to Vendetti, who charged toward the net and fired a laser past Arcadia goaltender Nathaniel Hudgins, securing the exciting 10-9 overtime victory for Haverford.
