HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College field hockey team improved to 5-0 after besting visting Lebanon Valley by a final tally of 2-0 on Wednesday night at Swan Field. The Fords received a penalty stroke goal from Casey Wakai in the 15th minute, which proved to be the game winner as Danielle Rette posted her second clean sheet of the season, earning four saves. Lebanon Valley falls to 2-3 in defeat.
Haverford made the most of its early penalty stroke opportunity, with Wakai converting her second goal of the season past the Dutchman keeper Victoria ByDeLey for a 1-0 lead in the 15th minute. Stephanie Terrell fired wide with shots in the 20th and 27th minutes for the Fords, who took a 1-0 lead into the halftime break.
After the opening stanza, Haverford held a 9-2 advantage in shots and a 5-1 advantage in penalty corners. Rette made a pair of first half saves.
The Fords came out firing in the second half, with Paige Carson having an attempt blocked in the 40th minute before Mason McNulty's shot was saved by ByDeLey. A penalty corner was awarded to the Fords after the flurry, but ByDeLey saved attempts from Elena Veale, Casey Wakai and Rachel Gordon, keeping the Dutchmen within striking distance with a valiant nine-save effort.
After Haverford was awarded yet another penalty corner in the 45th minute, Gordon found Lucy Tortolani with a cross in front of the goalmouth. Tortolani was able to finish towards the far post to double the Fords advantage to 2-0. Tortolani reprised her scoring role from last season's game against Lebanon Valley with her first of the season.
Rette made saves in the 51st and 69th minute to preserve the shutout, picking up her seventh career clean sheet and second of the season. Haverford finished with a 17-7 advantage in shots and a 9-3 corner advantage. Terrell led the way with four total shots, and was one of four Fords with two shots on frame. Cecile Kat tallied three shots to lead the Dutchmen.
The Fords matched the 5-0 start of the 2012 team that finished 14-5 with a trip to the Centennial Conference final. A win on Saturday at Rowan would give Haverford its longest winning streak to start a season in program history. The win also gave the Fords four straight home wins against Lebanon Valley dating back to the 2012 campaign.
Haverford will return to action on Saturday at Rowan. Game time is slated for noon in Glassboro, N.J as the Fords leave the Keystone State for the first time in 2017.