COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus College men's lacrosse team saw a fourth-quarter lead slip out of its grasp Saturday as visiting Haverford walked off with a 9-8 overtime victory on Ben Frost's game-winner with just 6.7 seconds remaining in the extra period.
Junior Ian Desenberg had a hat trick for No. 19 Ursinus (8-4, 3-3), which fell into a three-way tie with Washington College and Swarthmore for fourth place in the Centennial Conference standings. Haverford (7-7, 3-4), which knocked off the Bears for the first time since 2012 and ended a 16-game Ursinus home winning streak, is right behind at 3-4.
The first half was a tale of two quarters, Ursinus dominating the first before the Fords repaid the favor in the second. Desenberg opened the scoring with a rising rocket on a dish from junior Gerard Brown, and sophomore Peter DeSimone doubled the lead on an unassisted lefty strike just inside the 10-minute mark. Junior Lou Harrison's top-shelf laser from 15 yards out capped a 3-0 first period for the home side.
The momentum changed about three minutes into the second stanza, when Patrick Girard and Zack Cohen tallied 15 seconds apart to cut the Ursinus margin to 3-2. Garret Trucksess found the back of the net to pull the Fords even at the 5:41 mark.
Desenberg's second of the afternoon came just 34 seconds later, but Haverford responded with another 3-0 run capped by a Ben Frost blast to go up 6-4 in the final minute of the half. The Bears picked up a big marker when DeSimone shed a defender and ripped a long-range snipe into the upper corner of the net with 15.2 ticks remaining.
The momentum carried over into the third quarter. Brown plugged the back of the net just 27 seconds into the second half, then set up freshman Bobby McClure for a highlight-reel goal to hand the Bears a 7-6 lead with 6:01 remaining. Brown wheeled around the left wing, rose to the air and looked to be going up for a jumping shot before hitting McClure right on the doorstep, and the freshman shoveled the low pass right into the net.
Ursinus made it four goals in a row with 13:32 to play, as Desenberg roofed a feed from DeSimone.
Armed with an 8-6 lead, the Bears appeared ready to salt the game away, but the Fords had other ideas. Kevin Goshorn halved the deficit with 8:54 left, and Isaac Krier's marker with 2:35 knotted the contest at 8 apiece.
Both teams had chances in the extra session. Haverford controlled the face-off, but sophomore goalkeeper Elliott Shevitz made a nice save to keep the Bears alive, and the home side was closest to a shot that sailed high and out of play.
After a successful clear, Brown had a shot blocked before an errant pass facilitated a transition opportunity for Haverford. Justin Brendel's shot flew just high, but the Fords retained possession and called timeout to set up a final play with 30.2 seconds left. With a steady rain falling, DeLeo fed from X to Frost at the right wing, and Frost walked it off with a quick-twitch blast that was true.
Frost, Goshorn, and Trucksess all scored twice for Haverford, whose defense was led by P.J. Jackson with six ground balls and two caused turnovers. Dylan Slack made 11 saves, including five in the third quarter.
DeSimone (two goals, one assist) and Brown (one goal, two assists) each produced three points for Ursinus. DeSimone is now tied for third in single-season school history with 31 markers.
Sophomore Brian Casey won 14 of 21 face-offs and gobbled up eight ground balls for the Bears. Junior Connor Ream finished with four grounders and two caused turnovers, with senior Zach Jones also forcing a pair of Haverford miscues.
Shevitz matched Slack with 11 saves, seven of which came in the first half.
Ursinus owned small advantages in shots (39-34) and ground balls (28-26) but committed 15 turnovers to the Fords' 10.
The men's lacrosse team goes to Muhlenberg for a 7 p.m. opening face-off on Wednesday, April 26.
