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Haverford School wins Inter-Ac Lacrosse Invitational

The Haverford School lacrosse team ended a magical season Wednesday night with - what else? - more magic. Senior midfielder Carl Walrath scored two goals in the final 36 seconds to rally the undefeated Fords to a 5-4 victory over Malvern Prep at Cabrini College in the final of the first Inter-Academic Invitational Lacrosse Championships.

The Haverford School's Carl Walrath (left) is mobbed by teammates after his goal tied the score with 36 seconds left. The senior midfielder scored again with nine seconds remaining.
The Haverford School's Carl Walrath (left) is mobbed by teammates after his goal tied the score with 36 seconds left. The senior midfielder scored again with nine seconds remaining.Read moreED HILLE / Staff Photographer

The Haverford School lacrosse team ended a magical season Wednesday night with - what else? - more magic.

Senior midfielder Carl Walrath scored two goals in the final 36 seconds to rally the undefeated Fords to a 5-4 victory over Malvern Prep at Cabrini College in the final of the first Inter-Academic Invitational Lacrosse Championships.

The Fords, powered by a roster featuring 18 Division I recruits, ended their season at 23-0. They have been ranked No. 1 in the nation by ESPN since the preseason.

"That was a great game," said Haverford coach John Nostrant, whose team had been averaging 11 goals a game in an ambitious schedule that featured games against a number of nationally ranked opponents. "Malvern had a great game plan."

With the Fords' dream of finishing an unbeaten season in jeopardy, Walrath netted his first goal of the game to tie the score, 4-4.

Then with nine seconds remaining, Walrath scored again to thwart Malvern's bid for a huge upset and give Nostrant, a former Philadelphia Wings player who has been Haverford's coach since 1991, his first unbeaten season.

"On the first goal, I just got under the goalie," said Walrath, a University of Virginia-bound attack who finished with 28 goals this season. "The second one, I was lucky.

"It's been a real grind this season. We've played some tough games. This one was the toughest. . . . Malvern is a good team. Even when we beat them twice [during the regular season], they were tough.

"Tonight, I give it to our defense. To hold Malvern to four goals says something."

The Fords, who had beaten Malvern Prep by 7-4 and 11-5 earlier this season, held the Friars scoreless after the first quarter.

Malvern jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first 41/2 minutes of the game. The Friars did not score again after Keith Dreyer found the net with 3 minutes, 7 seconds left in the first quarter.

Senior attack T.J. Hanzsche put the Friars on the scoreboard with an unassisted goal with 10:06 to go in the first quarter. Less than a minute later, another senior, Colin Farrell, made it 2-0.

Sophomore midfielder Chris Hilburn boosted the Friars' lead to 3-0 on another unassisted goal.

Haverford, which didn't get a stick on the ball until 7:13 remained in the opening quarter, finally got on the board with 5:56 left in the period on a goal by Matt Walters, a senior midfielder who has committed to Syracuse.

Grove Stewart, a senior midfielder, put the Fords in a position to tie and win the game when he scored to pull his team to within 4-3 with less than four minutes to play in the third quarter.

Hanzsche said he couldn't explain Malvern's inability to score after the first quarter.

"No. 9 [Walrath] made some great moves," he said. "Our goalies did a great job. We got off quality shots. We just didn't finish."

Malvern Prep 4 0 0 0 – 4

Haverford School 2 0 1 2 – 5

Goals: MP-T.J. Hanzsche, Colin Farrell, Chris Hilburn, Keith Dreyer; HS-Carl Walrath 2, Matt Walters, Brendan McGrath, Grove Stewart.

Saves: MP-Ryan McDevitt 5, Matt Barrett 4; HS-Conor Kelly 6.