Haverford Seniors Pave The Way in 14-7 Upset of No. 3 McDonogh

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Making a statement at home, Haverford put together an all-around dominant 14-7 win over the No. 3 Eagles to hand McDonogh its most lopsided loss in close to a decade, with archives only going back as far as 2017. <br><br>Brendan Dawson's squad ate up possession time with its face-off tandem, got a strong showing from Richmond-bound goalie [player_tooltip player_id='15293' first='Brody' last='Murphy'], and won all of its matchups while moving the ball with precision. Haverford never allowed McDonogh to find its footing, as the Eagles had an uncharacteristic performance on defense and struggled to hit their stride on offense, with No. 1 recruit [player_tooltip player_id='14510' first='Brendan' last='Millon'] face-guarded and 4-year starter [player_tooltip player_id='14858' first='Luke' last='Miller'] still out of the lineup due to injury. Although McDonogh 5-star keeper [player_tooltip player_id='14549' first='Aidan' last='Seibel'] did everything in his power to prevent the Fords from getting to a double-digit margin of victory, Haverford's mostly mistake-free day and veteran play proved to be too much to overcome. <br><br>Here's a look at five Haverford seniors (plus a junior) who caught my eye on Tuesday: <br><br></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["14807"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"When talking about the biggest X-factor in high school lacrosse, the discussion starts and ends with McCarthy, a consensus top-five recruit in the Class of 2024. A tenacious competitor and exceptional athlete, the Duke signee had already earned that billing, but on Tuesday, he backed it up, posting two goals on top of another yeoman's effort at the dot. I had him down for an 11-for-18 day (which included two violations), and although he slowed down at the end and lost the final three draws, he did what he's known to often do and scrapped one back after losing initially. The type of player who needs to be dragged off the field, he is any program's dream because he does so much more than just provide extra possessions and is never a liability in any area of the game. Even when you know he's going to the rack, very rarely is McCarthy able to be stopped. On his second goal of the game, he won it out the back, darted upfield, switched from his right hand to his left, and buried a shot from 10 yards out to give the Fords a 12-4 advantage.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_1_player":["15060"],"_player_evaluations_1_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_1_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_1_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_1_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_1_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_1_evaluation":"O'Kane, who flipped from Delaware to Brown in the fall, has been on a tear to start his senior season and turned in an outstanding four-goal, two-assist outing in Haverford's upset of the Eagles. Much-improved and perpetually playing with poise, O'Kane is so dangerous as an off-ball cutter, pairing that savvy and prowess with soft hands and a phenomenal handle around the cage. He showed off impeccable chemistry with fellow captain [player_tooltip player_id='14943' first='Aydan' last='DiRocco'], connecting with his attackmate on a goal and an assist in the first quarter. Later in the half, O'Kane climbed the ladder on a high skip pass from [player_tooltip player_id='24572' first='Evan' last='Large'] (Air Force) to finish a dunk on the doorstep. He continued to show off his dynamic playmaking ability with a textbook lefty question mark with just over 30 seconds to go before the break, then handled a [player_tooltip player_id='18391' first='Max' last='Fertels'] pass from his knees at GLE and somehow put it in the back of the net in the final minute of the third quarter.","_player_evaluations_1_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_2_player":["21833"],"_player_evaluations_2_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_2_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_2_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_2_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_2_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_2_evaluation":"A long and athletic left-hander, Gardner is such a perfect fit for the Fighting Irish. With the Fords' defensive gameplan centered around denying top-ranked junior [player_tooltip player_id='14510' first='Brendan' last='Millon'] the ball as much as possible, Gardner was tasked with face-guarding the highly touted Virginia commit and held him to just one assist. The 4-star did an excellent job of making him uncomfortable, forcing Millon into a high pass out of bounds on his first touch, then on one of his few dodges of the day, affected his shot by connecting on a trail check in the second quarter. He rarely needed to throw checks, instead relying on elite footwork and position play to stalk Millon throughout and never losing sight of him.","_player_evaluations_2_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_3_player":["15352"],"_player_evaluations_3_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_3_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_3_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_3_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_3_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_3_evaluation":"There's so much to like about Nolen's style of play. The athletic throwback two-way midfielder does a little bit of everything and does so at a high level, competing in all facets to boost his squad whenever he's on the field. Projecting as a d-middie with the Blue Devils, he had several groundballs off the wings of face-offs and put two goals on the board, nailing a step-down in the second quarter before the McDonogh defense could settle in. On his second tally, he utilized a subtle hesitation move before initiating contact to get his hands free. When Haverford was man-down, Nolen was asked to shut off Millon. There's no doubt that having a player like him is a luxury - especially against teams with multiple midfield threats - and like so many others, McDonogh shied away from that matchup except for one or two instances. Based on what I've heard, his leadership capabilities are off the charts as well.","_player_evaluations_3_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_4_player":["14943"],"_player_evaluations_4_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_4_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_4_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_4_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_4_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_4_evaluation":"Coming into 2024 as the most experienced and productive member of the Fords' offense, DiRocco has had to adjust to playing without his older brother, much like his attack counterpart on the other side of the field. With Ryan now at Army after being named as the Main Line Player of the Year last spring, the younger DiRocco had posted 31 goals and 29 assists last spring, and, if the first few games have told us anything, he's playing with even more confidence in his third year as a starter while taking on increased responsibilities and attention from opponents. The Navy-bound senior had the ball in his stick with more regularity but like O'Kane, was able to find seams in defenses and make the most of McDonogh's miscues, making a few superb cuts and feeds to finish the game with three goals and an assist, a stat line that included an empty netter at the end. He kicked things off on Tuesday too, capitalizing on a doorstep dunk after a feed from [player_tooltip player_id='15207' first='Jack' last='Long'] a bit over a minute into the game. His lone assist came while he was operating up top and sent a pass on a rope to connect with O'Kane in front of the cage when the slide never came.","_player_evaluations_4_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_5_player":["15151"],"_player_evaluations_5_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_5_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_5_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_5_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_5_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_5_evaluation":"Somewhat of a sleeper, Burfeind had a strong finish to his junior year before committing to Cornell late in the summer. Against McDonogh earlier this week, Burfeind's two goals just 76 seconds apart helped put the game out of reach and allowed Haverford to go from up 8-3 at the half to suddenly up 11-3 after a three-goal flurry in the opening minutes of the third. A tall drink of water at 6'3 and 190 pounds, Burfeind is armed with an awesome shot on the run, demonstrating explosive wrists on his release to shoot an accurate ball. He opened the second half with a nearside top-corner offering from a tough angle past the hash after coming off a pick, then followed that up with an off-hip shot on EMO on a [player_tooltip player_id='15060' first='Brady' last='O'Kane'] pass from behind the cage. I'm excited to see what he can do with the Big Red, as I love where Burfeind's game is going.","_player_evaluations_5_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":6,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-65fc9f93b178e"} /-->