The lacrosse team has long been a national powerhouse, and this spring, the Fords are once again making their presence felt with a deep roster of talent, currently sitting at 7-3 and ranked eleventh in the nation by USA Lacrosse. Opening the season ,the team picked up notable wins over Loyola Blakefield, ranked 15th in the nation, as well as the Landon School, currently ranked 16th, in an 11-10 overtime thriller.
Under the guidance of head coach Brendan Dawson, now in his seventh season, Haverford is not only reasserting itself as a top-tier program in the Inter-Academic League but also continuing its reputation and legacy that stretches nationwide.
Known for its grueling schedule and commitment to underclass development, the team has become a proving ground for elite athletes, and this year is no different.
What defines this team isn’t just its individual talent. It’s the quiet, deliberate cohesion of the team: players moving with purpose, the sideline locked in, and a coaching staff that balances intensity with encouragement. The result is a squad that’s competitive and composed, even under the spotlight of national attention.
“In terms of cohesiveness, the biggest thing I notice is how close our team is off the field. It’s easier to trust and play with guys who are also your best friends off the field,”
Charlie halpert
Sixth Form defenseman Charlie Halpert, who will play for the University of Virginia next year, speaks to the teams cohesiveness and brotherhood.
“In terms of cohesiveness, the biggest thing I notice is how close our team is off the field. It’s easier to trust and play with guys who are also your best friends off the field,” Halpert said.
That sense of cohesion, the intangible thread that binds teammates beyond the stat sheet, shows up not just in how the Fords play, but in how they prepare. This season, after a few slow starts, the team took a hard look at its pregame rhythm and made a subtle but deliberate change. It wasn’t about reinventing the wheel, just fine-tuning the edges.
“One thing I guess I could touch on is some changes we’ve made to our warmup. In the past, we walked out 30 minutes before game time, fully padded up and ready to go. To open the season this year, we weren’t starting the game the way we wanted to. So we changed our warmup to where we would come out onto the field 45 minutes before game time, in our sticks and gloves, to get our legs warm and our sticks tuned up. We head back into the locker room after that and then walk out again fifteen minutes before game time, fully padded and ready to go. I’ve liked this change, and I think we’ve seen it’s helped us play better to start the game,” Halpert said.
Still, cohesion doesn’t arrive overnight. It’s forged through adversity, and for a team as young and reshuffled as this year’s Fords, the early part of the season was as much about learning who they were as it was about chasing wins.
Halpert acknowledges that finding an identity has been the biggest challenge so far, but also the most rewarding part of the journey. Sixth Former Gavin Cooper, who recently flipped his commitment from Duke to Army, said, “We are a young team and we’re a completely new team from last year.”
“As the season has been going along, we have been growing, and we have been showing that no matter what the score is, we’re going to continue to fight until the very last second, which is something that I’m proud of us for,” Cooper said. “The challenge is that, since we’re a young team, the beginning of the season might be a little hard, but the growth that we’re experiencing is something special and something that I’m looking forward to seeing pay off throughout the rest of the season.”
Halpert is excited by the growth he has seen in the younger guys on the team.
They’ve found their footing, leaned into their identity, and, more importantly, believe they’re capable of seeing it through.
“Now here we are in mid-April, and we have sophomores who are stepping up and playing like they are seniors,” Halpert said. “It’s really just been super inspiring to see.”
According to Halpert, Sixth Form leadership has played a role, particularly Sixth Former Colin Decker, the team’s starting goalkeeper. “Colin is so poised in the cage and makes our job as a defense so much easier. He’s made some absolutely ridiculous saves this season,” Halpert said.
With the team finding its rhythm, the focus now shifts to what lies ahead. For Halpert and his teammates, the goals are clear. “Our goal is to win the Inter-Ac. We want to build off of each day of practice and each game we play so that we feel like we’re making a step in the right direction every day. Following the Inter-Ac season, we want to win the last game in May and hopefully win a PAISAA championship. Lastly, we want to be as nationally competitive as possible.”
And now, with the final stretch of the season approaching, the Fords look ready.
They’ve found their footing, leaned into their identity, and, more importantly, believe they’re capable of seeing it through.
