2011 Season Review

Signature Win: For the sheer excitement factor, the Fords’ 8-7 triple-overtime win at Franklin & Marshall takes the top spot. Haverford nabbed its first lead of the game with just under six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, but the host Diplomats pulled even two minutes later to eventually send the 7-7 game into overtime. The Fords finally took control in the third OT period blanking F&M on the shot chart while getting off five themselves, the game-winner coming from Myles Monaghan at the 2:23 mark. Haverford goalkeeper Joe Banno finished with 18 saves in the victory. Not to be overlooked within consideration of a signature win were the 10-7 victory over then-No. 12 Denison and the early-season 6-5 win at then-No. 14 Cabrini. Both of those losing teams concluded the season in the NCAA tournament.

Season Notes: All-American goalie Joe Banno anchored Division III’s best man-down defense and finished the season with a save percentage of .650, third-lowest in NCAA D-III. The junior tallied 19 saves three times during the year and posted the second-best single-season goals against average (7.24) in program history … Junior defender Dillon Hamill accumulated 47 caused turnovers, second-most in program history, trailing only the 51 he posted during his sophomore campaign … Senior Myles Monaghan and freshman Nick Schoen registered four goals apiece in the Fords’ convincing 19-10 win over Washington College, a night game under the lights at Swan Field which was delayed by nearly an hour at halftime due to a storm that included lightning and hail … Senior Max Hjelm led the team with 10 multi-games during the season.

Postseason Awards:

  • United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) All-America Team: Joe Banno (third team); Travis Gregory, Dillon Hamill and Max Hjelm (honorable mention)
  • USILA Scholar All-America Team: Gregory, Hjelm
  • USILA/LaxWorld Senior All-Star Game, South roster: Gregory, Hjelm
  • All-Centennial Conference: Banno, Gregory, Hjelm (first team); Hamill, Scott Kelley, Myles Monaghan, Phillip Valliant (second team); David Whitcomb (honorable mention)
  • All-Centennial Academic Honor Roll: Robert Breckinridge, Zack Cohen, Sage Disch, Gregory, Hamill, Jason Leeds, Will Sangree
  • Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Team: Gregory, Hamill, Hjelm

Looking Ahead: The 2012 Fords return all but co-captain Scott Kelley in the defensive third of the field. All-American Joe Banno is back for his final season in goal and from his vantage point between the pipes will peer out at a defensive wall put up by returners Dillon Hamill, David Whitcomb, Sage Disch, Scott Chanelli, Alexander Douglas and Will Sangree. In the attacking end of the field, the senior-dominated scoring punch of 2011 (74 of the team’s 128 goals) will give way to the leadership of returners Phillip Valliant (20 goals, 33 points) and Nick Schoen (18 goals).

2011 Season Outlook

The 2011 Fords are looking to raise the bar yet again for the Haverford College men’s lacrosse program after the squad from 2010 captured the Centennial Conference tournament crown and played its way into the national quarterfinals.
A lukewarm start to last season ended with a flurry as the Fords began reaching their potential which translated into a seven-game win streak before the team fell in overtime in the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament.

Head coach Colin Bathory knows the schedule is even tougher this season but also believes, “we learned our lessons last year, and the ‘big game’ experience our players gained after they turned things around should help us in that type of game this season.”

Bathory is returning more than just a solid core of players in 2011, as nearly every player on this season’s roster that was also on the 2010 team saw playing time in the conference and national tournaments.

Experience and depth are abundant in each third of the field for Bathory and his Fords.

The same cast of characters that tallied points in the offensive end are back again led by All-America attackman Max Hjelm, who totaled 45 goals and 15 assists, along with Myles Monaghan (tied for second on the team in goals with 30). Several Fords are in the mix to control possession in the attacking third with returner Max Cassidy and newcomer Nick Schoen, among others, looking like they will accumulate important minutes in that role.

The middies added a lot of offense last season and expectations are that the trend will continue this season. Zack Cohen was second on the team in points (42, 17 goals and 25 assists), All-American Travis Gregory tied for second in goals (30), and Phillip Valliant added 19 goals to the offensive mix from his midfield post.

The defense for Haverford is both experienced and physical. Dillon Hamill registered a team-leading 51 caused turnovers and picked up 46 ground balls. Also back is co-captain Scott Kelley whose skill and speed electrified the team several times during the NCAA quarterfinal game with field-length carries deep into the offensive end. Alexander Douglas, Sage Disch and Scott Chanelli all add a physical presence to the defensive third as well.

The cage will be guarded by junior Joe Banno who owned the third-best goals against average (7.65 per game) and fourth-best save percentage (.575) within the conference last season. Fellow junior Ryan Herz-Thyhsen has the unfortunate luck of playing behind Banno but would likely be starting on several other teams within or outside of the conference.

The talent on the Fords’ roster allows the team to alter its style of play to fit the situation. Bathory likes to play a balanced game but the skill sets are there to push play up-field quickly via the pass or dash, or move possession into the attacking end methodically.

The schedule won’t allow for another lukewarm start as the Fords, ranked No. 7 in the preseason United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association poll, take on No. 3 Stevenson University at Swan Field in the season opener, followed by a trip up the Main Line to No. 14 Cabrini College in the season’s second outing. Other non-conference match-ups include neutral site contests against St. Lawrence University and Skidmore College and a home outing against No. 15 Denison University. The regular murders-row of Centennial opponents begins March 19 with a trip to No. 6 Gettysburg College and includes a road affair at No. 16 Dickinson College.

As Bathory has stated, however, the team came into its own as the season progressed last year and, by sweeping through the conference tournament and pushing into an extra period in the national tournament, gained valuable big-game experience that will allow the Fords to have the confidence they can compete in each game this year.

“I feel very good about our team,” adds Bathory, “and know that our guys won’t be content with the past successes of the program. Each year it’s, obviously, a new season and these guys recognize that and seem eager to take care of business and write their own success story."