HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College men's soccer team broke in its newly renovated field with a thrilling victory Tuesday evening in the 2015 home opener. Playing in front of fans that helped build a state-of-the-art playing surface, the Fords (1-0) sent those same Haverford supporters home happy with a 2-1 victory against Scranton.
Sam Yarosh scored both of Haverford's goals to lead the offense. Yarosh's final tally came in the 86th minute off a scramble in front of goal. With a crowded box in front of net, freshman Michael Carr found the senior, making the first assist of his career a game-winning effort. Yarosh's fifth career game-winning goal came just under five minutes after Scranton's Michael Romano tied the game. Yarosh opened the game's scoring just over four minutes into the second half when he and Ben Field connected in the 50th minute for the early 1-0 edge.
Sam Miller recorded the win in net for the Fords as he turned away four shots on the evening. His first win of the season was not secure until the Fords' defense forced a shot high and another shot wide in the final two minutes of the home opener. Haverford also defended a corner kick with under a minute to play in the game. The defense limited Scranton to just nine shots and three corner kick attempts on the evening. The Fords held the upper hand in both categories with 11 shots and eight corner kick tries on the night.
The first half started with Miller being called on to make three of his four saves for the match. He successfully did so while the offense sent several near misses wide of target over the first 45 minutes. After the Royals were off target on a couple chances to start the second half, a cross from Field on the right side found Yarosh in the box for the early 1-0 lead.
The Fords also had two separate chances of three successive corner kicks in the second half but were unable to push the lead any further. Romano's goal in the 81st minute later ensured that the Fords needed to find a second goal to come away with the victory on their brand new field.
Haverford's chances were helped out in the 83rd minute when the Royals had a player sent off with a red card following a collision with Miller in goal. Playing a man down Royals team, the Fords found the go-ahead tally just over three minutes later.
Men's soccer has now won seven straight matches on Walton Field. The last time Haverford held such a streak was during the 1991 season when the Fords rolled off eight straight home victories to tie the program record which has been matched on three other occasions. Haverford also improved to a perfect 5-0 in season openers under head coach Shane Rineer with the latest victory.
Before the next home date on September 12, the Fords will have a pair of road trips during the upcoming weekend. The weekend trek starts with a trip to No. 21 Stevens this Saturday at 4 p.m. The Fords will be close by on Sunday when they make the quick trip to Rosemont at 6 p.m.