Women's Soccer Tripped Up by Arcadia, 2-1

Kendra Griesman
Kendra Griesman

HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College women's soccer team mounted a valiant second half comeback, but saw several chances denied in the waning minutes of a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Arcadia on Saturday. The match was the opener of the Haverford College Kick Off Classic as the Fords will now play in tomorrow's consolation game against St. John Fisher with a 4 p.m. start on Walton Field.

Kendra Griesman tallied the Fords' goal with just under 13 minutes to play in regulation as Haverford put heavy traffic in front of the Knights' goal all afternoon. Haverford took two more shots with that remaining time and was whistled for an offside call to stop a third chance as Arcadia made its pair of first half goals stand up in the 2-1 victory.

The Knights got on the board during the 16th minute of play after Haverford goalie Julie Hanss stopped a pair of attempts to start her afternoon. On that opening goal, Arcadia's Sarah Walsh played a long pass from the midfield over top of the Haverford defense where Veronica Garcia would finish for a 1-0 lead.

Arcadia's second goal came when Bridget Sway delivered a penalty kick goal during the 39th minute of play after a highly-contested whistle inside the box. Both teams finished the opening half of their respective seasons with six shots.

Haverford's offense began to pick up steam in the second half and looked to have a very good chance in the 74th minute before Mia Reyes' shot from inside of the 18 was stopped by the goalie to keep Haverford off the board for the time being. Nevertheless, just over four minutes later Griesman headed home a feed from Katie Safter to bring the Fords back within a goal. Griesman's goal was the second of her career, while Safter's helper was the fifth of her career.

The Fords had two more shots but were unable to find the equalizer. Haverford finished the game with a 13-12 advantage in shots as both goalies came up with four saves on the afternoon. Four different Fords had multiple shots in the match, led by Safter's three total attempts.

In the second game of the Haverford College Kick Off Classic, Montclair State defeated St. John Fisher by a 2-0 score. With those results on Saturday, Arcadia will play Montclair State in the championship game at 1:30 p.m. while Haverford will host St. John Fisher in the 4 p.m. start.