HAVERFORD, Pa. - The Haverford College men's soccer team, after winning the last six regular season games to qualify for the Centennial Conference playoffs for the first time, came up just short of the Centennial title and the automatic berth to the NCAA tournament last season. Playing Dickinson College to a 1-1 tie through regulation and a pair of overtime periods, the Fords fell 3-2 in five rounds of penalty kicks to come painstakingly close to earning the first Centennial championship in the program's history.
Entering the 2012 playoffs as the No. 3 seed, the squad is back to try and take the next step and win the crown. Standing in the way of a return trip to the finals is another match-up with the defending champion Red Devils (12-3-2, 7-1-1) on Saturday at top seed Swarthmore College.
"Our goal at the beginning of the season was to return to the conference playoffs," said head coach Shane Rineer. "Finishing 6-3 in the tough Centennial Conference and attaining third place is great. We are confident in our chances moving forward with our senior leadership and another year of playoff experience."
Picked to finish fifth in a preseason poll of conference coaches, Haverford (10-7, 6-3 CC) relied on a veteran-laden defense to help navigate the treacherous waters of the Centennial schedule. Senior Dan Garfing and juniors Matt Johnson, Adam Morollo and Jamie Reingruber compose a defensive unit that returns nearly intact from last season's impressive run. The aforementioned quartet, along with junior goalie Andriy Mshanetskyy, held 16 of the Fords' 17 opponents to under two goals this season.
Freshmen Sam Yarosh, Brady Seitz and Colin Seitz combined for 16 goals to invigorate the offense led by senior Matt Gorski. Gorski and Yarosh tied for the team lead in goals during the regular season with seven while Brady Seitz's six assists puts him in a tie for second in the conference rankings.
The Oct. 6 showdown between the two clubs saw Haverford tally three goals late in the second half to stun Dickinson, ranked 20th at the time, on its home field. It was the Red Devils' lone conference loss of the regular season and prevented Dickinson from an opportunity to claim the regular season title and No. 1 seed in the Centennial tournament.
Powered by an offense that ranks first in the conference in goals per game (2.24), Dickinson ended the season on a five-game unbeaten streak. Javier Mena ranks sixth in the Centennial with 1.18 points per game while goalie Cody Hickok ranks second in shutouts with six.
Rineer and his squad are looking forward to the battle at hand. "The first-round match with Dickinson will have a championship feel to it," commented Rineer. "Over the last two years we have met three times with all the games proving to be both competitive and close contests. I have the utmost respect for Coach Redding and his program as they have been a regular in the playoffs and the NCAA Tournament."
The Haverford/Dickinson semifinal at 3 p.m. will precede the Johns Hopkins/Swarthmore semifinal scheduled for 6 p.m.