CENTER VALLEY, Pa. – Haverford junior forward Keira Prince had the match of her career Saturday afternoon, leading the Fords to their second straight victory. Prince had a hat trick with three goals, and she added one assist for seven total points to lead Haverford to a dominating 6-1 victory over DeSales in women's non-conference soccer action at Duc Field.
Haverford's junior forward got the first of her three goals in the third minute of the match (2:27 mark) as she took a pass from junior midfielder Phoebe Garfield and put it past DeSales goalkeeper Jozlyn Minnema on the high left side of the goal for a 1-0 lead.
The lead went to 2-0 in the ninth minute of the match (8:50 mark of the first half) when Prince again went high left past Minnema off a pass from sophomore midfielder JJ Stein. Haverford's goal blitz in the first 15 minutes came to an end at the 14:43 mark of the first half when Stein got a pass from senior forward Liv McMillan and went low center past Minnema to give the Fords the 3-0 lead they would take into halftime.
DeSales got on the board in the first minute of the second half (45:58) when Elizabeth McCarthy drew a penalty in the box, and Tori Harnett scored on the PK to cut the Haverford lead to 3-1. The Fords were in control after that, scoring three more times in the second half to post the final tally.
Prince restored the three-goal advantage less than seven minutes later (52:04 of the match) when she gathered a pass from Garfield and went low right past Minnema for a 4-1 lead, the hat trick, and Garfield's second assist of the afternoon.
But the Fords weren't done. Junior forward Grace Haskell scored in the 69th minute (68:33) when she got one past Minnema on a goal where both Prince and sophomore defender Abigale Baker were credited with an assist, giving the Fords a 5-1 lead.
Haverford first-year defender Emma Kirk scored an unassisted goal in the 73rd minute (72:46) to make it a 6-1 final.
The Fords have now won back-to-back matches to even their record at 2-2 on the young season. After starting the campaign with losses to Arcadia and The College of New Jersey, the Fords have now beaten Alvernia (2-0 on Sept. 6) and DeSales to get back to even on the year.
Prince had one goal and one assist in the 2-0 win over Alvernia, her first goal of the season. She didn't score as a first-year player in 2021 but scored three times as a sophomore in 2022. She has now scored more goals in Haverford's last two matches than in her previous seasons combined.
Haverford dominated the match in virtually every area, including shots (19-8) and shots on goal (9-4). Haverford goalkeeper Theresa Haupt faced only four shots on goal and came up with three saves in the matinee.
The Bulldogs, meanwhile, remain winless through four matches this season, and they are now 1-5 all-time against the Fords. Haverford took control of this one early, scoring three times in the first 15 minutes for a 3-0 lead that stood at halftime.