HAVERFORD, Pa. – One of the games Saturday afternoon in the semifinal round of the Centennial Conference's 2012 women's soccer tournament in Lancaster, Pa., pits third seed Haverford College against No. 2-seed Gettysburg College in a rematch that has the Fords looking to reverse the regular-season result.
The Fords (12-3-2, 6-2-2 Centennial) notched the opening goal of the Sept. 29 game at Gettysburg (12-5, 8-2) as Meg Boyer lit up the scoreboard in the 28th minute of the opening half. The Bullets found the equalizer in the 31st then netted the eventual game-winner in the 50th to rally for the victory.
Haverford out shot the Bullets by a 12-11 margin but Gettysburg seemed to gain the edge in attacking-end possession accumulating six corner kick chances to the Fords' three, including a 5-1 count in favor of the home team in second half action.
Both goalies, Haverford's Robin Chernow and Gettysburg's Eliza Gray, finished with the same number of saves, five, but the lone second-half goal allowed by the Fords' defense and Chernow tipped the scales the Bullets' way.
Saturday, on top-seed Johns Hopkins University's turf, the Fords look to reverse the regular-season result, relying on an attack that picked up over the final portion of the schedule.
Haverford closed the regular season with a four-game unbeaten stretch that included consecutive wins over Bryn Mawr, McDaniel and Washington by a combined score of 14-2. Two of those wins came by way of shutouts, and the regular season finale at Swarthmore ended up as another shutout for Chernow as the Fords and Garnet played to a scoreless draw in double-overtime.
In fact, over the team's final seven games, opponents were held scoreless five times while Haverford found the back of the net 21 times. Of those 21 goals, seven different Fords scored two or more times led by Boyer's four tallies, and Allie Chen's and Phoebe Miller's three goals apiece.
While the offensive pressure picked up, Chernow and the back line of defense grew stiffer. Chernow finished the regular season with a string of 200 minutes without being scored upon and was named the Centennial's defensive player of the week for the final week of the regular season.
Against Gettysburg on Saturday, Haverford will need to maintain it's offensive prowess over the back half of the schedule as the Bullets are among the stingiest squads in the conference defensively allowing a league-low 0.52 goals per game.
Haverford will pit its top scorers against a netminder, Gray, who carries a 3.50 saves per game average into the semifinal round. Chernow, however, is ahead of Gray within Centennial statistic lists with her 3.59 saves per game mark and a total of 61 saves to Gray's 56.
Getting the first goal will be a boost for the Fords as they own a 9-1 record when getting on the scoreboard first. A halftime lead has been a strong indicator for Haverford, as well, as it has run its record to 8-0 when leading at the intermission.
Should the game head into extra time, the Fords may have the advantage having posted a 3-0-2 mark in overtime this season compared to Gettysburg's 1-2 record beyond regulation time.
Head coach Jamie Gluck is pleased how her team picked up steam at the end of the regular season, but certainly expects a tight contest against the Bullets.
"We're excited to be back in the playoffs," said Gluck, who has led the team into the Centennial tournament each of her six seasons at the helm. "With our conference being as competitive as it is, it's an honor to compete in the semifinal game. We're looking forward to this rematch as it's always been a great rivalry between the two teams. Gettysburg is a strong team, so we're looking forward to the challenge and excited for the opportunity to play them again."
The winner of Saturday's semifinal between the Fords and Bullets will advance to the championship game which will be played at Hopkins on Sunday at 1 p.m.