HAVERFORD, Pa. – A pair of second half goals 49 seconds apart pushed the Haverford College field hockey team to a 4-2 win over visiting Wesley College in a non-conference match-up Wednesday afternoon at Swan Field.
The victory was the first of the season for Haverford (1-1) and the first defeat for Wesley (3-1).
Both goals — Juliana Morgan-Trostle's at 60:14 and Alex Waleko's tally at 61:03 — came as a result of doing the dirty work in traffic deep in the offensive zone with Wolverine defenders and their aggressive goalie making it rough for the Fords to find room to move.
With the score tied 2-2 in the second half following Wesley's Sheree Pleasanton's first goal of the season, Haverford's Mary Hobbs nabbed a rebound off a Waleko shot and was in a scramble with several Wolverines near the right post. She eyed Morgan-Trostle, who'd stepped back from the fray, alone and free at the left post and sent a deft pass to her teammate and Morgan-Trostle one-timed a shot into the goal to put the Fords back ahead.
Haverford regained possession quickly after a Wesley miscue and drove deep into the zone again. Waleko spun around several different defenders about three yards from the goal mouth and, while falling onto her back, finally got a shot off that found its way to the boards in the back of the goal for a two-goal margin with less than 10 minutes left on the game clock.
Haverford seemed due for each of its second half tallies out shooting the visitors by an 18-3 count over the final 35 minutes of action, including the final 10 shots of the game after Wesley's tying marker.
The down and dirty work late in the game rewarded the efforts of Haverford's Margaret Selsor who scored once in the opening half then again early in the second half to push the Fords to a 2-1 lead.
While the offense peppered Wolverine goalie Sarah Johnson, who finished with 16 saves, the Fords' defense was stout in front of sophomore Sydney Hyder who was making her first collegiate start in goal for Haverford.
Hyder allowed Wesley's two goals but stopped the only other two shots she faced to earn the win. In all, the Haverford defense allowed only six Wesley shots in the game.
Wednesday's victory was also head coach Jackie Cox's first win. Cox took over the team in June and made her collegiate head coaching debut this past weekend.
Next up on the slate for the Fords is a road game Sunday, Sept. 12, at 5:30 p.m. against the Stevens Institute of Technology, the 18th-ranked squad in the 2010 Kookaburra/National Field Hockey Coaches Association Division III preseason poll.
