HAVERFORD, Pa. – Sophomore Ford Bohrmann's first goal of the season lifted the Haverford College men's soccer team to a 2-1 Centennial Conference win over visiting Swarthmore College Monday night at Swan Field, and propelled the Fords into the postseason league playoffs for the first time in program history.
The Haverford (9-6-1, 5-4-0 CC) win over the Garnet (11-6, 5-4) was the first since a 2-0 victory in 2003.
Playing with a 1-0 lead over the Garnet and looking for an insurance goal, Bohrmann rocketed home a shot off a pass from Tyler Freeman late in the 75th minute to push the lead to two. That cushion came in handy as Swarthmore's Jack Momeyer cut the lead in half less than two minutes later with his third of the season.
Swarthmore tried to increase its pressure over the remaining 13 minutes but the defenders in front of Haverford goalkeeper Nick Kahn limited the Garnet to one shot, wide of the net, which came with less than 15 seconds remaining. Time and time again the back line of Jamie Reingruber, Adam Morollo, Matt Wetherell and Matt Johnson thwarted Swarthmore's probes inside Haverford's defensive end the field.
The Fords grabbed their first lead of the night when David Robinson slotted a pass to Alejandro Rettig y Martinez who slipped a shot past Garnet goalkeeper David D'Annunzio at 18:31 of the opening half. The goal was Rettig y Martinez's team-leading sixth of the season.
Kahn was tested early coming up with five saves in the first half to keep the visitors off the scoreboard but didn't see nearly the same action over the final 45 minutes as Momeyer's shot was the only Garnet attempt that was on frame. The Fords were more efficient with their offense scoring on two of the seven shots -- three of which were on frame -- they generated in the game.
The conference playoffs, beginning Wednesday, await the Fords after Monday's win clinched the fifth and final spot in the Centennial tournament. Haverford will travel to Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa., for a Nov. 2 game at a time to be determined.
The Fords dropped an early-season decision to the Diplomats, 1-0, at home on Walton Field in late September.
Monday's men's soccer victory over the Garnet also increases Haverford's advantage in the annual Hood Trophy battle between the two rival schools. The lead over Swarthmore sits at 4-2 following the fall sport competitions.