HAVERFORD, Pa. – Locked in a scoreless draw with under 24 minutes left in regulation, the Haverford College men's soccer team scored twice in just over six minutes to pick up a Centennial Conference win against Washington College on Wednesday. The Fords (5-3, 2-1 CC) remained unbeaten at home in their last five Centennial Conference matches with the 2-0 victory.
Haverford was unable to get an early lead despite creating several scoring opportunities over the first 45 minutes. Those chances included a header from Russell Nicholson that traveled just wide of goal in the third minute of play and Tejan Walcott getting denied from in close as the goalie had to come off his line to cut down the angle in the 12th minute of play. Nevertheless, Haverford would continue to push the pace and carried the momentum into halftime as it took the final four shots of the opening half.
The Fords held a 7-4 advantage in shots over the first 45 minutes of the game; however, Washington College recorded the first three shots of the second half. Each of those attempts were off target.
Regaining possession, the Fords earned a pair of corner kicks in the 65th and 67th minute. On the second corner attempt in less than two minutes, Will Corkery was able to find Nicholson in front of the goal. This time Nicholson's header found the net and gave the Fords a 1-0 lead with just over 23 minutes to play. Nicholson's goal was his second this season. Both of his goals this year have been game-winning goals in Centennial Conference wins at home for the Fords.
Just like the Johns Hopkins game when Nicholson scored his first goal of the year, Sam Yarosh would also score the insurance tally. Yarosh's second goal of the season came just over six minutes later when he dispossessed the Washington defense. Creating his own space, Yarosh's strike from just outside of the 18 beat the goalkeeper to the far post and gave Haverford a 2-0 lead with just over 18 minutes to play.
That two goal buffer would be more than enough for the Haverford defense which welcomed back Sam Miller on Wednesday evening. Miller was called on to make three saves in his first game back. His shutout was his second this season after also stopping every shot he faced at Lebanon Valley before missing the last three games.
Men's soccer will be back at home this Saturday for a Centennial Conference match against Gettysburg at 3:30 p.m. That match will be part of a doubleheader with the women's team. The women open the day at Walton Field with a 1 p.m. match against the Bullets.