In just the 19th game of their coach’s tenure, the Haverford Fords recorded their biggest win since the 2003 debut of the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association weekly poll.

Haverford stunned IWLCA No. 3 The College of New Jersey, 12-10, Tuesday by twice overcoming early three-goal deficits and by forcing two shot-clock violations as part of a defensive clampdown in the second half. The win over the Lions, who entered this week ranked No. 2 in the Nike/US Lacrosse Top 20, easily marked the upset of the young season to date nationally and provided an early validation of coach Katie Zichelli.

“It feels amazing,” Zichelli, a first-time head coach who came to Haverford prior to the 2018 season, said. “We were on cloud nine afterwards.”

The Fords got four goals from Rina Rosnow and an all-around game from senior captain Allie Gibbons (two goals, an assist, four ground balls and three caused turnovers). They trailed 5-2 before concluding the first half on a stunning 7-2 run.

“Allie is such a leader on offense,” Zichelli said. “She controls the tempo. She didn’t let being down 4-1 get to us.”

Haverford’s defense rose to the occasion as the Lions attempted to come back from an 11-7 second-half deficit, forcing the Lions into bad shots and keeping them off kilter, according to the school’s postgame press release.

Defensive prowess should not come as a surprise given Zichelli’s background, despite the fact that the Fords graduated several starters from the back line. A two-time IWLCA Division II Defender of the Year and four-time All-American at Lock Haven, Zichelli largely focused on defense during three-year stints as an assistant coach at Susquehanna and Franklin and Marshall. The recent institution of a 90-second shot clock created another opportunity for Zichelli to capitalize on her defensive acumen.

“With the shot clock, we’re focused on ticking seconds off of each set, whether it’s challenging ground balls, riding hard, pressing out — little things that help tick the clock down,” she said. “Our players have done a good job looking at the shot clock as a challenge to get it to tick down. For us, those 90 seconds are a game within the game. Our goal is one shot-clock violation per game. We had two [Tuesday].”

Zichelli, the 2013 IWLCA Assistant Coach of the Year while at Susquehanna and the architect of an F&M defense that led the Centennial Conference in caused turnovers three times and in ground balls twice, fell in love with the league during her tenure with the Diplomats. She replaced Lauren Wray atop the Fords and led them to a 12-5 season in 2018, their most wins since 2013.

“The idea of being a head coach in this conference appealed to me, and I felt this was a place where I could recruit good student-athletes to,” she said.

With the big win and young players emerging, she’ll challenge them to stay hungry entering Saturday’s game at unbeaten Scranton.

NESCAC Teams Begin Play Saturday

The New England Small College Athletic Conference teams, several of which ranked in the Nike/US Lacrosse Preseason Top 20, begin play Saturday. The slate includes defending league champion and No. 3 Middlebury hosting Bates, No. 4 Wesleyan traveling to Williams, and No. 5 Amherst hosting Colby. With three more conference teams ranked and getting underway, expect some changes in Monday’s edition of the top 20 as virtually every team in the nation will have played at least once.

Top-20 Showdowns Loom

Several matchups of ranked teams highlight the next few days of play. Today No. 8 York entertains No. 17 Franklin and Marshall. Saturday No. 9 Salisbury travels to No. 16 Washington and Lee and No. 10 Ithaca hosts No. 11 Cortland in an upstate New York rivalry game.