WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – The effort was there, the chances were there, but Haverford College's women's soccer team was forced to face the end of its season Saturday afternoon in the opening round of the NCAA Division III tournament, falling 2-0 to Keene (N.H.) State University in a first-round match-up on Cole Field at Williams College.
Haverford finishes with a 10-4-6 record while Keene St. (18-4-1) advances into the tournament's second round where it will face host Williams, a 5-1 winner over Lesley University earlier in the day.
The Fords had several chances in Saturday's game but were either thwarted by a stingy Owls defense, their all-conference goalie, or by shots that sailed within inches of the posts and crossbar.
Late in the first half senior Meg Boyer slotted a through ball to Connie Friedman who was unmarked in the box, but Keene goalie Victoria Crenson charged out toward Friedman and made an acrobatic save to keep the Fords off the scoreboard.
The Owls nearly broke the scoreless deadlock minutes later but Haverford keeper Robin Chernow answered Crenson's save at the other end with one of her own on a shot from Kara Pavlidis who had tracked through the Haverford defense to face Chernow one-on-one.
Keene would finally break through with less than two minutes remaining in the opening half.
Beverly Cole dropped her corner kick into the goal box inside the far post where Pavlidis was able to get off a shot which was blocked by a Haverford defender. The loose ball fell at Brittany Tolla's feet and the Owl midfielder one-timed a shot into the netting to provide Keene with a 1-0 lead which it carried into the halftime break.
Haverford looked for the equalizer in the early moments of the second half as Boyer dribbled into the right side of the box with an open look on frame, but her shot skipped just wide of the near post.
The next good look for the Fords came in the 55th minute when Mariah Baker's shot was saved by the athletic Crenson.
Elizabeth Newman was next in line for Haverford as she settled behind the ball for a free kick from about 25 yards out and center frame, but her shot missed high nearly clipping the crossbar as it sailed above Crenson in the 71st minute.
The dagger for the Fords, in the game and in their season, came five minutes later when Keene's Margaret Grayson, off an assist from Tolla, scored on the Owls' first shot in the half.
Keene packed its defense in after that and allowed just two more Haverford shots over the final 15 minutes of action.
Chernow finished with six saves in the loss while Crenson registered five saves to earn the win.
The stinging defeat was the final game for five seniors -- Baker, Boyer, Sophie Eiger, Newman, and Kylie Reeves -- but the group was able to close out their careers with a pair of NCAA appearances (2012, 2013) and a Centennial Conference championship in 2012.