Early lead fades as Fords unable to hold off Eagles

Early lead fades as Fords unable to hold off Eagles

ST. DAVIDS, Pa. – A pair of goals in the opening eight minutes gave Haverford College the lead, but the No. 14 Fords were unable to cash in on the early advantage in Thursday afternoon's 5-3 non-conference field hockey loss to host Eastern University.

Haverford (8-4) broke on top of the Eagles (9-5) with a goal from Jen DiMaria just 66 seconds into the game.

Mary Hobbs received the insertion off a penalty corner and quickly bumped a pass to a close-by DiMaria for the opening goal from near the top, center of the circle. The goal was DiMaria's fourth of the year and Hobbs' eighth assist.

Eastern answered with an equalizer near the end of the fifth minute but the Fords regained the lead with an unassisted goal from Bryn Bissey, her eighth of the season, at the 8:09 mark. Bissey flicked in a sneaky shot near the baseline past Eagles goalie Kylie Jones to push the Fords back in front, 2-1.

Eastern reeled off four unanswered goals, though, to wrest the lead and momentum from the Fords, taking a 5-2 lead into the intermission.

Hobbs breathed life back into the Fords' second-half come-back hopes with her sixth goal of the year, coming early in the 49th minute, but that would be the final tally for either team as Eastern revenged a 6-1 loss to the host Fords last season.

The Eagles were able to control possession for much of Thursday's game, piling up a 25-9 advantage in shots and a 16-5 edge in penalty corner opportunities.

Sydney Hyder (7-4) took the loss in goal for Haverford, picking up seven saves but surrendering all five of the Eagles' goals. Megan Holt added a defensive save to aid Hyder. Jones earned the win between the pipes for Eastern making five saves.

Haverford enters back into Centennial Conference action for the remainder of the season with its next game, a home contest on Saturday, Oct. 13 against Johns Hopkins University at noon on the Swan Field turf.