LANCASTER, Pa. - The Haverford College field hockey team (6-3, 0-2 CC) was edged by No. 8 Franklin & Marshall (8-0, 3-0 CC) on Saturday afternoon, falling by a 1-0 final at Tylus Field. The Fords, receiving votes in the latest NFHCA Coaches Poll, withstood a strong Diplomats offense with a stellar performance from the backline and goalkeeper Sunny Truslow. Truslow made a career-best 13 saves in the contest, while co-captain Caroline Aronowitz added a defensive save in the first quarter.
Truslow was called into action in the first minute of the contest, as the hosts were awarded a penalty corner just 23 seconds into play. The junior turned away the early shot attempt from Lily Mynott, stopping any thoughts of an opening strike from the Diplomats.
Kelsey Chai got a shot on frame in the sixth minute, capping a strong chance for the Fords from the run of play. Chai received a cross on the far side of the goalmouth and rocketed the perfectly-placed ball towards the cage. Diplomats goalkeeper Christina Seery made a diving stop to keep the ball out of the back of the cage, and put the hosts back on the offensive.
Aronowitz made a defensive save on the next Franklin & Marshall shot attempt just over 30 seconds later, denying Mynott and clearing an attempt off the back line after the charging Diplomats attack forced Truslow out of position. The defensive save was the ninth of the senior's career.
Truslow valiantly turned away shot after shot from the Diplomats forwards while the Haverford defense locked down in the trenches, not allowing any solid offensive chances to develop for the hosts. Haverford was awarded a penalty corner in the early moments of the fourth quarter, but a violation was called after a battle in the circle, awarding possession back to Franklin & Marshall.
On their ensuing offensive possession, the Diplomats briefly ceded the ball back to the Fords, but won possession back in the attacking third. Darby Klopp collected a loose ball, and slotted her shot from the top of the circle into the back of the cage, opening the scoring with under 10 minutes remaining in regulation.
The defense and Truslow made sure that the margin held at one, with a trio of successfully defended penalty corners in the last five minutes of action, but the Klopp goal would hold as the margin of victory in the tightly-contested battle.
Haverford returns to action Saturday, October 5 with a home contest against No. 9 Johns Hopkins. First pass on Swan Field is slated for 1 p.m. The Fords then conclude their run of games against top 10 opponents with a battle under the lights at No. 10 Ursinus on Wednesday, October 8 (7 p.m.).