GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Mary Hobbs' goal in the second minute of overtime pushed No. 10 Haverford College past host Gettysburg College in a 2-1 Centennial Conference field hockey contest Saturday afternoon, leaving the Fords near the top of the conference standings as one of only two teams yet to suffer a league loss.
Haverford (8-1, 3-0 Centennial) trailed by a goal at the half Saturday but pulled even with the Bullets (7-2, 3-1) in the 55th minute on a score from Bryn Bissey, setting up the thrilling finish in overtime.
Bissey raced down the right sidline as the overtime period moved past its initial 60 seconds. She fired a crossing pass to Bridget Gibbons five yards in front of the goal where Gibbons was able to continue the ball's path to Hobbs on the left doorstep of the cage.
Hobbs' first probe was blocked by a defender but the ball came right back to her and she was able to push the ball between the defender's legs for the game-winner at the 1:17 mark. It was Hobbs' fifth goal of the year and Gibbons picked up the assist.
Bissey's equalizer came 20 minutes into second half action off a penalty corner opportunity. Gibbons inserted the ball to Hobbs at the top of the arc where she gathered the insert before sliding it to her left toward Christie Quake just inside the circle. Quake's shot from the top left was heading toward the right post but Bissey had moved in behind Gettysburg goalie Megan Feeg and directed the ball behind the netminder into the the back, left of the goal to bring the Fords even at 1-1. The tally was Bissey's team-leading sixth of the season.
Most of the game's opening half was an evenly played match but the Bullets scored with 17 seconds left in the period to take a one-goal lead into the intermission. Bissey, then Hobbs rallied the Fords for their third consecutive victory after having dropped a heartbreaking 2-1 decision to No. 4 Messiah College on Sept. 20.
Haverford's Sydney Hyder earned the win in goal with 12 saves against the one blemish late in the first half. Gettysburgh's Feeg made 10 saves in taking the loss for the home team.
The win over Gettysburg is the third in a row for Haverford after suffering through a 17-game conference losing streak to the Bullets which began in the league's opening season of 1993.
Haverford and No. 9 Franklin & Marshall College, leading the conference with a 4-0 league mark, are the lone teams to post zeroes in the loss column within Centennial play in 2012.
The Fords will continue their run toward the top of the standings with a 7 p.m. game at Ursinus College on Wednesday, Sept. 3.