SWARTHMORE, Pa.—A ricochet off the crossbar with 12:31 left in the fourth quarter caromed into the pocket of a ready Matt Johnson to set the table for the go-ahead goal Saturday. Johnson snagged the rebound out of the air and buried the mid-range shot to give Swarthmore College Men's Lacrosse a 6-5 advantage over Dickinson College. Swarthmore added an insurance goal with 1:57 to play to secure the 7-5 win over Dickinson.
The win over Dickinson is a first for Swarthmore since 2009. It also bumps Swarthmore into a three-way tie for fourth-place in the Centennial Conference standings with two games to go. The Garnet improved to 8-5 overall and 3-3 in Centennial play. Dickinson dipped to 7-6 (2-4 Centennial).
Johnson finished with two goals as did Cam Marsh and Griffin Johnston. Dylan Rittenhouse added the Garnet's final goal.
After allowing two quick Red Devils' goals, Swarthmore clamped down. In goal, Cole Fox settled in and recorded 16 saves, one shy of his career high. Faceoff specialist Mike Selverian put out a dominant performance, winning 9-of-11 faceoffs and scooping up three of them on his own.
Swarthmore got on the scoreboard with 7:46 to go in the first quarter and strung together a four-goal run.
Marsh located Johnson for the Garnet's opening goal. Marsh then wrapped around the cage for a goal of his own early in the second to even the game at 2-2. Johnston tagged the back of the net with a long-range strike with 3:47 left in the second. Then, Marsh added his second of the quarter after getting a feed from Will Black to give Swarthmore the 4-2 advantage going into the second half.
The Red Devils worked their way back to a 4-4 tie midway through the third quarter. Swarthmore's Johnston notched his second goal of the game to break the tie with 6:08 to go. Dickinson evened the count with less than four minutes to go in the third.
Johnson gave Swarthmore the lead for good, collecting the ground ball off of Marsh's shot from the right side which pinged off the crossbar to Johnson on the left side where he nailed the shot.
With less than four minutes remaining and Dickinson attacking, Swarthmore defender Matt Lambros caused a turnover to return possession to Swarthmore. Dickinson soon committed a penalty and shortly after it released, Rittenhouse received a pass slipped across the goal mouth by Marsh and flushed it for an insurance goal.
Fox made three saves the rest of the way to lock up the win.
Swarthmore controls its own postseason destiny. Its two remaining games are against the two other teams that are tied for fourth. The Garnet play at Washington College on Wednesday and host Haverford on Saturday.
