HAVERFORD, Pa. – Goals from Catherine Aronowitz, Bryn Bissey and Jacque Fagan each provided Haverford College with a lead Thursday night in non-conference field hockey action at Swan Field but the visitors from Eastern University tied the game each time and then managed to escape with a 4-3 victory on a penalty stroke goal in overtime.
Haverford (9-7) opened the scoring early with a tip-in goal from Aronowitz barely into the game's fourth minute. The two teams rattled off shots over the next 26 minutes before Eastern (9-10) was able to tie the score on a goal from Jess Jaindl in the 30th minute.
Bissey scored just before the halftime break on a weaving run from the midline near the left sideline down into the top, right of the circle before slamming a shot past Eagles goalie Jennifer O'Neill, but the Eagles responded quickly after the intermission with a goal from Abby Wagner to knot the score at 2-2, only 81 seconds into the half.
Midway through the half Fagan was primed to slot a close-in shot past O'Neill but was fouled resulting in a penalty stroke. Fagan converted the attempt for her first goal of the year and the Fords' third lead of the game.
Seven minutes later, however, Jaindl scored her second of the game to once again pull the visitors even, this time with 20 minutes remaining in regulation.
Haverford took the final four shots of regulation, two trickled wide of the post and the other two were blocked, but couldn't find the game-winner sending the contest into an overtime session of seven-on-seven including the netminders.
Lindsey Lopes came up big for Haverford between the pipes in the extra period, stopping one point-blank shot early in the session and racing off her line to foil a breakaway a minute later. She registered another save five minutes into the period but was unable to come up with the improbable stop of Megan Bolton's penalty stroke at the 77:59 mark of the contest.
Lopes finished with six saves in the loss while O'Neill earned the win after registering seven stops.
Jen DiMaria, on the goal by Aronowitz, netted the only assist for Haverford on its three scores.
The Fords close out their regular season Saturday afternoon at Muhlenberg College with Centennial Conference playoff seeds on the line. Both teams are assured a spot in the playoffs, but fifth-place Haverford trails the fourth-place Mules by a game in the win column. A Fords victory would flip-flop the two teams in the league standings with the fourth-place team hosting the quarterfinal match-up of the conference tournament on Wednesday.