HAVERFORD, Pa. – Goals from Connie Friedman and Meg Boyer capped off a victory Wednesday afternoon for the Haverford College women's soccer team as the host Fords downed visiting Muhlenberg College, 3-0, in a Centennial Conference match-up at Walton Field.
Haverford (5-2-4, 2-0-2 CC) remained unbeaten in the conference with the victory as it defeated the Mules (5-6-1, 3-2) for the second straight year. The Fords' three-goal output was the most in a contest against Muhlenberg since a 5-4 home loss in 1993.
Friedman notched her third goal of the year in giving the Fords a 2-0 lead in the game's 65th minute.
Instead of lofting a corner kick chance into the box, teammate Sierra Houck made a 25-yard pass to Larisa Antonisse who was uncovered about 10 yards outside of the top, left corner of the box. With the Muhlenberg defenders now drawn out, Antonisse sent a perfect lob deep into the box where Friedman was able to beat Mules goalie Jen Mermelstein, who had taken over at the half for starting netminder Amanda Wong, to the ball and headed it into the netting.
Not even four minutes later the Fords struck again, this time on a quick counter-attack.
Phoebe Miller registered a steal just inside the midline and sent a through ball down the middle to Boyer who received it in full stride just above the arc of the box. Boyer dribbled into the box facing a pair of Muhlenberg defenders, faked a shot then dribbled to her right around a pair of crumpled Mules and rocketed a shot back across the goal into the left side to beat Mermelstein who had raced off her line in an attempt to cut off the near-side shot.
The opening goal of the game was a result of Haverford's pressing attack early in the contest.
Houck set up for a corner kick from the right early in the game's seventh minute. She deftly dropped the ball into the middle of the box where a Haverford player got a head on the it but not enough to register as a scoring threat. The loose ball was corralled by a Muhlenberg defender but her clearing attempt went more up than out and she failed to get the ball out of the box.
Antonisse poked a soft ball deeper into the attacking zone where Ali Lopez was able to flick a header over Wong. A Mules defender stopped the ball from crossing the goal line but her clearing attempt was a soft one and right to Lopez's feet for another close-in shot. A second defender slid over and stopped that shot inches from the line but her clearing attempt hit Wong in the chest as she was rushing back to the line and bounced into the back of the net to hand Haverford a 1-0 advantage.
The Fords forced attacking action all game long, finishing with a 12-2 advantage in shots and a 5-2 edge in corner kick chances.
Haverford goalie Robin Chernow wasn't forced to make any saves in earning the win between the pipes as neither of the Mules' shots were on frame. Wong finished with two saves in taking the loss for the Mules. Mermelstein made one save and allowed two goals.
Conference action continues for the Fords in their next game Saturday afternoon when second-ranked Johns Hopkins University visits Walton Field for a 1 p.m. contest.