HAVERFORD, Pa.-
Caitlin Hoover's double-overtime goal proved the deciding factor in a tightly contested 2-1 win for the No. 8 Franklin & Marshall field hockey team (6-1, 1-0 Centennial Conference) at Haverford (4-5, 0-1 Centennial Conference) on Saturday afternoon.
The goal was Hoover's second of the day, while
Megan Dadio and
Sarah Weitzman recorded one assist.
Meghan Dole made six saves from the seven shots she faced.
F&M opened the scoring with their first shot of the game inside of three minutes. Weitzman played a long ball into the circle looking for a redirection, which Hoover delivered with a tip into the top-right corner from ten yards away.
The Diplomats continued to press in a first quarter where they outshot their opponents, 5-0.
Hannah Fitzgerald forced a couple of stops following the goal, while Hoover had a chance from a penalty corner blocked at the top of the circle. Fitzgerald had a good chance denied when she drove through the Fords' defense on a through ball, forcing the keeper from her cage for a save on a shot from ten yards away.
Each team had several chances at goal in the second quarter, as Dole made a pair of stops that saw her move across her line to deny a near-post chance, while she later denied a narrow-angled chance from near the goal-line. Hoover and Krisko each had shots saved with about five minutes left in the half, while Haverford had their best chance of the miss wide when a square pass across the face of goal was hit weakly and wide.
The Fords tied things up seven minutes into the third period via a penalty corner. After a saved shot from the edge of the circle was deflected into the air, a Ford won the contested aerial ball and found an unmarked player at the far post for a tap-in.
The Diplomats fought off sustained pressure from the Fords in the third, who maintained a 6-3 shot advantage in the quarter. F&M kept the scoreline at 1-1 despite a run of four penalty corners with four total shots and three shots on target.
Molly Donadoni had F&M's first shot of the period with two minutes to go, as her chance on a cutback pass from the penalty spot was blocked by a defender. A later penalty corner chance was also unsuccessful when
Maya Rorick's wide shot found Dadio unmarked at the keeper's near post. The keeper was able to move to her post to deny Dadio a go-ahead goal.
The fourth quarter saw a couple of decent chances, as Hoover had a shot from a penalty corner injection blocked, and Haverford saw a long-range side just miss the far post in the final seconds to send the game to overtime.
F&M outshot the Fords 4-1 in the first overtime period. Hoover had a great chance two minutes into the period, as she drove through the midfield defense on a counterattack and dribbled to the goal line before having a lifted shot hit the side of the cage from a tight angle.
Caroline Krisko later had a penalty-corner shot deflected and then saved by the Haverford goalkeeper. Haverford's lone chance of the period saw their player juggle the ball away from the defender into space, and aimed for the far-post before Dole denied the chance. Fitzgerald generated one more chance on a play similar to Hoover's drive through the midfield, although her shot from the circle was saved at the keeper's far post to send the game to the second overtime period.
It took a little over 30 seconds for Hoover to score the game-winning goal in the second overtime period. Fitzgerald switched the fields by dribbling right and passing to Dadio in space. Dadio then slotted a through ball through two defenders to a marked Hoover, who dribbled away from her defender and slotted a backhanded shot to the far post from the penalty spot.
F&M maintained a 17-14 shot advantage and 12-7 advantage in shots on goal. The Fords drew 10 penalty corners against F&M's six.
The Diplomats play their second Centennial Conference game when they host McDaniel on Wednesday September 30, at 7:00 p.m.
