HAVERFORD, Pa. – For the second time in three seasons, the Centennial Conference Tournament will call Walton Field home as the Haverford College men's soccer teams serves as host of the 2015 championship. The Fords (14-3, 9-0 CC) are ranked No. 12 in both the NSCAA and D3Soccer.com Polls entering the weekend and will be making their fifth consecutive appearance in the conference tournament.
Saturday semifinals: The top-seeded Fords, who are riding a 12-game winning streak, will open the tournament with Johns Hopkins Saturday morning at 11 a.m. in the first semifinal. The Fords' 12-game winning streak started with a 1-0 victory at Johns Hopkins back on September 16. The fourth-seeded Blue Jays (11-4-3, 5-2-2 CC) have won three straight, including a 5-0 defeat of Swarthmore in the conference's first round match on Wednesday. Second-seeded, and No. 14 in the NSCAA Poll, Franklin & Marshall (15-2, 7-2 CC) and third-seeded Dickinson (11-3-3, 5-1-3 CC) will meet in the second semifinal at 1:30 p.m. or 60 minutes after the completion of the first semifinal. Dickinson was a 1-0 winner against F&M on the final day of the regular season.
Championship game: The winners up Saturday's semifinals will advance to the championship game Sunday at 1 p.m. with that match deciding the conference's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament.
Tournament history: Haverford has qualified for the conference tournament for the fifth straight season. In the previous four years, Haverford has made trips to the 2011, 2012, and 2014 Centennial Conference Championship match, taking home the title in 2012. Johns Hopkins is making its 15th straight appearance. The Blue Jays are 7-4 all-time in semifinal matches, but will be looking for their first championship game appearance since 2009 when they took home the conference title.
Like Haverford, Dickinson and Franklin & Marshall each have one championship to their team's resume. Franklin & Marshall will be making its ninth trip to the tournament and its sixth straight overall. The Diplomats are 3-4 all-time in the conference semifinals. They won the championship back in 2013. Dickinson is making its fifth straight trip to the conference tournament and eighth overall. The Red Devils are 3-3 in the conference semifinals with their championship coming in 2011 vs. the Fords by a 3-2 penalty kick advantage.
During the regular season: The Fords topped all three of these teams with a 1-0 victory at Johns Hopkins, coupled with 3-1 victories against both Franklin & Marshall and Dickinson on Walton Field. Those three wins helped Haverford become the first Centennial Conference men's soccer team since Johns Hopkins in 2006 to go unbeaten and untied in conference play during the regular season. Since the Centennial Conference Tournament's inception in 2001, Johns Hopkins has been the only other team to go a perfect 9-0 in the conference. The Blue Jays did so on five occasions. Those seasons resulted in three tournament championships, one loss in the championship game on penalty kicks, and one defeat in the conference semifinals.
In the rankings: Each of these four teams is also found among the top six teams in the latest NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Poll. The Fords topped the poll with Franklin & Marshall taking home the second slot in the rankings. Dickinson and Johns Hopkins checked in at No. 5 and No. 6 in the final set of regional rankings before the announcement of qualifiers to the NCAA Tournament next Monday.
Statistics: Haverford brings both the top ranked offense and defense during Centennial Conference play to the table. The Fords averaged 2.7 goals per game on the offensive end during the regular season and allowed just 0.67 goals per game in conference play, tying with the Diplomats for the top defensive mark in the conference. Franklin & Marshall (2.3 goals per game), Dickinson (1.9 goals per game), and Johns Hopkins (1.7 goals per game) were ranked second through fourth in scoring during the conference schedule. Dickinson (0.91 goals allowed per game) and Johns Hopkins (1.26 goals allowed per game) are third and fifth overall in defense during conference competition.
Leading the Haverford offense is the Centennial Conference's leading goal scorer with 15 in Sam Yarosh. A senior captain, Yarosh is also leading the conference in game-winning goals (6) and points (35), while ranking seventh in the conference with five assists. Brady Seitz is tied for fifth in the conference with seven goals on the season. Putting the offense in motion, Will Corkery ranks second among his conference peers with 11 assists. He has also added six goals on the year, five of which have been game-winning efforts to rank second only to Yarosh. Michael Carr is fifth in the conference with six assists on the year. Defensively, Sam Miller is allowing just 0.68 goals per game and stopping over 82 percent of shots in conference action – both of which marks are the second-best in the conference.
Series History vs. Tournament Teams:
Haverford vs. Johns Hopkins
All-time: JHU leads 26-20-7
At Haverford: Fords lead 13-11-3
In Postseason: 2-1-1 (2-0 Centennial); most recent: 1-0 win by Haverford in 2014 CC first round
Streak: Haverford has won three straight overall
Haverford vs. Franklin & Marshall
All-time: Fords lead 34-26-7
At Haverford: Fords lead 21-10-4
In Postseason: 4-1 (2-0 Centennial); most recent: 2-0 win by Haverford in 2014 CC semifinals
Streak: Haverford has won two straight and five of six overall
Haverford vs. Dickinson
All-time: Fords lead 20-19-5
At Haverford: Tied 10-10-2
In Postseason: 1-1-1 (all Centennial); most recent: 2-0 win by Dickinson in 2013 CC semifinals
Streak: Haverford won 3-1 in the regular season to snap Dickinson's three-game winning streak in series