By: MIKE LIVINGSTON
(Photos by Zack Beavers for PSD)
HAVERFORD. PA - For the better half of the 2010s Malvern Prep was the team to beat across the Philadelphia lacrosse scene.
Now, just two years removed from their last Inter-Ac title in 2022, the Friars looked to have fallen victim to one of the area’s high school lacrosse’s newest powerhouses -The Haverford School.
The Fords downed Malvern 10-9 off a last-second goal from senior Jack Long to all but solidify their second consecutive Inter-Ac title, for the first time since the club threepeated back in 2015-2017.
“This feels great,” said Haverford goalie and Richmond commit Brody Murphy. “We obviously still need to beat our next two opponents, but we feel great about this all going forward.”
With wins over their next two Inter-Ac opponents, Germantown Academy (5/7) and Episcopal Academy (5/10) the Fords can officially clinch the league title once again. Haverford took care of both GA (20-0) and EA (13-2) in their previous meetings this season.
Winning goal by Haverford Senior Jack Long. (Video by Mike Livingston for PSD)
“We have a little tradition here at Haverford that we don’t like to talk about things until they happen,” said Haverford head coach Brendan Dawson. “It’s a very one-day-at-a-time thing. The next for us is practice tomorrow to prepare for another great opponent Saturday (Nat-6, St. Anthony’s) and the next thing after that is practice Monday to prepare for another great opponent Tuesday. So, we try to train guys to think that way a little bit, but it was just a great win today against an awesome opponent and we tip our caps to those guys.”
One goal at a time seemed to be the recipe for success for the Fords Thursday afternoon, however, as the nation’s third-ranked team fought from the opening whistle against the nation’s fifth-ranked.
Just two minutes into the game Long, the three-star Michigan commit struck for his club to open the scoring, ripping one down the alley to give Haverford an early 1-0 advantage.
Duke commit Connor Nolen quickly followed it up with another goal for Haverford before Malvern drew within one.
Ben McCarthy (Duke) quickly notched his first of the night making it 3-1 before Malvern’s Ennis Udo (Brown) made it 3-2 with about eight minutes to go.
After just a minute ticked away it was Brown commit Brady O’Kane who got right back into it for Haverford to make it 4-2 while the #4 player in the class of 2025, Duke commit Michael Ortlieb made it 4-3.
Not long after Haverford would go on a run.
Haverford School vs. Malvern Prep Game Day Highlights By Mike Livingston for PSD
Air Force commit Evan Large and Navy commit Ayden DiRocco brought the score to 6-3 by the end of the first quarter of play.
Malvern spent the majority of the second period catching up to the Fords beginning with a goal from freshman Daniel Lucovich that was quickly matched by another O’Kane score.
The Friars struggled to get back into the game at first as the stellar play of Murphy in goal made it nearly impossible to make any sort of offensive run at the time.
In retribution, Duke commit Owen Mears quickly followed O’Kane’s goal up with one of his own followed by another from Udo which made the score 7-6 going into halftime.
As the pace slowed, so did the scoring in the third period as the two teams saved their energy on a sweltering spring day throughout the beginning of the third period. As the trends went however it was Long once again who kicked off the scoring in the second half with his second goal of the day to make it 8-6 Haverford.
Malvern nonetheless refused to go down without a fight as junior Harvard commit Logan Turley ripped one to bring the Friars within one again at 8-7.
Large moved the margin again right before the quarter’s end at 9-7 with his second of the day.
Haverford Senior Jack Long talks about his winning goal, defeating Malvern and the brotherhood within His Team. (video/ Mike Livingston)
Haverford Goalie Brody Murphy talks about the intensity of the game and excitement on team sights for Inter-Ac Title. (Video/ Mike Livingston for PSD)
The goals continued to come fewer and further in between as the game moved into the third period. Turley scored his second of the game to make it 9-8 just a second into the period. However, it took a bit longer for Jake Bickel (Georgetown) to tie things up for the Friars with around six minutes to go.
Despite a few more attempts from Malvern to take a lead, their efforts would be for naught as Murphy continued an incredible afternoon in the net diving and shuffling for multiple labored saves.
However, as the final five minutes of the game rolled on shot after shot seemed to take a bad bounce or catch a bad break at the goalie’s stick for the Fords who bombarded Malvern goalie Heath Jones (Rutgers) with shot after shot throughout the final moments. Finally, coming out of a Fords timeout, it was Long for the third time on the afternoon that gave Haverford the lead with only 12.9 seconds left to go in the contest.
“This feels awesome man,” said Long. “I feel like for us and especially this group of seniors, just anytime getting a win over Malvern is really a relieving feeling cause we love each other, and we love being out there together. This is a moment that I’m really going to cherish with them being in this spot in this particular moment.”
With the win, the Fords moved 15-0 on the year and to 7-0 on the Inter-Ac season and will clinch their second Inter-Ac title with wins over Germantown and Episcopal this coming week.
As for the Frairs, they fall to 6-2 on the Inter-Ac season and will hold onto hope to tie for the Inter-Ac title with wins over William Penn Charter and Springside Chestnut Hill Academy next week.
