Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 4/4/26
From Press Release
The Haverford College women’s lacrosse team (8-4, 3-0 CC) earned a statement victory over No. 19 Franklin & Marshall (3-8, 2-1 CC), 13–8, on Saturday afternoon at Swan Field.
The win marked Haverford’s first over the Diplomats in 26 years, dating back to March 15, 2000. The Fords seized control with a dominant second quarter, outscoring the Diplomats 6–2, and never relinquished their advantage. A strong defensive effort, highlighted by 11 caused turnovers, anchored the Scarlet and Black throughout.
Brooke Epstein led the offense with four goals and one assist, putting the senior third all-time in Haverford history with 190 goals and 256 points. Sophie Jaffe added three goals, including the eventual game-winner, finishing with a perfect seven shots on goal.
Mikelle Smith (Moorestown Friends-NJ) and Kiri Jensen each caused two turnovers, while Jensen, Lily Provost, and Louisa Coughlin collected three ground balls apiece. In goal, Shaina Lewis recorded a career-high 13 saves on 25 shots, providing a steady presence throughout.
Franklin & Marshall struck first, as Myranda Beebe opened the scoring at 13:50, followed by a free-position goal from Devyn Crone at 13:02 to give the Diplomats an early 2–0 lead. Haverford responded with a player-up goal from Smith at 11:47, assisted by Kylie McNamara (Lenape-NJ), cutting the deficit to one before Epstein evened the score at 7:25.
Bella Gattuso (Tower Hill-DE) then gave the Fords their first lead with 1:23 remaining in the opening quarter off an assist from Finley Jordan, making it 3–2. Lewis came up with several key saves in the period to preserve the advantage.
In the second quarter, Epstein opened the scoring at 14:47 with an unassisted goal to make it 2–4. Franklin & Marshall answered at 13:43 as Sophie Harris scored unassisted to pull within 4–3. Epstein struck again at 12:07, again unassisted, extending the lead to 5–3 before Gattuso followed at 10:36 with another unassisted tally to push it to 6–3.
Jaffe then added her first of the quarter at 09:35, unassisted, making it 7–3. Franklin & Marshall responded at 08:52 when Alexandra Proefrock converted off a Crone assist to cut it to 7–4.
Haverford quickly regained control at 06:42 as Jaffe scored again, this time set up by Daniela Martini, extending the margin to 8–4, and she capped the quarter’s scoring at 04:44 with another assisted finish, this time from Kalli Mullen (Owen J. Roberts, 1G, 1A), pushing the lead to 9–4.
In the third quarter, Lauren Pittman got the Diplomats on the board at 13:54, but Haverford answered quickly as McNamara finished a feed from Martini at 12:05 to restore the five-goal cushion.
Natalie Frekko later added another at 7:01, finishing an assist from Epstein to extend the lead to 11–5. Lewis remained sharp in goal, turning away multiple attempts from Pittman and Rose Dunne to maintain control.
In the fourth quarter, Franklin & Marshall opened the scoring at 13:17 as Crone finished off an Annie Marshall assist to make it 11–6. The Diplomats added another at 11:37 when Myranda Beebe scored off a Lauren Pittman feed, cutting it to 11–7.
At 10:51, Crone set up Alexandra Proefrock on a player-up opportunity to bring it to 11–8. Haverford responded at 08:19 as Brooke Epstein converted a Mikelle Smith assist to extend the lead to 12–8 before Kalli Mullen closed out the scoring at 03:11 with an unassisted goal to make it 13–8.
