Captains' Preseason Interviews
Haverford College Men's Soccer 2016 Trailer (produced by John Kerber '17)
HAVERFORD, Pa. – Coming off of its most successful season of the NCAA era, the Haverford College men's soccer team appears poised to be among the nation's best once again this season. The Fords return eight of their 11 starters from last year's team who captured the Centennial Conference Championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight before finishing as the sixth ranked team in the country.
The veteran Haverford team will feature 10 seniors, six of whom have been full-time starters at one point during their career. Headlining that list of returnees is first-team D3Soccer.com All-American Will Corkery. Corkery set the school record with seven game-winning goals alongside 2015 Centennial Conference Player of the Year Sam Yarosh '16. Corkery has led the Centennial Conference in assists during each of the past two seasons from the midfield. His 21 career helpers are tied for eighth most in program history.
Up top, Tejan Walcott will also look to offset the offensive loss in graduation as he is a two-time honorable mention All-Centennial Conference selection. Junior Ben Field (10 points in 2015) and Ryan Hill (four goals as a freshman) are also back and will be rejoined by senior Matthew Clausen after he was a starter during both the 2013 and 2014 seasons. The addition of three freshmen (Peter Baroff, Nick Jannelli, and Rodrigo Zuniga) will bolster an offensive unit that includes veterans William Edwards and Julian Bright.
Defensively, the Fords recorded 10 shutouts – just one shy of the program record set in 1992. All but one starter returns from that unit, including All-Centennial Conference selections Maclyn Willigan and Sam Miller. Miller is a three-time conference defensive player of the week and honorable mention goalie last season. He was the goalie of record in all 18 of Haverford's record-breaking win total last season. His 32 career wins are third most in school history and just seven away from tying the record set by Tom Boogaard '91. His 14 shutouts are the seventh most in school history and just six shy of the record set by Boogaard. Chris Gibson, John Kerber, and Jeremy Astesano will be part of a deep goalkeeping core that will see the addition of freshman Michael Iacono.
In front of goal will be veteran defense with seven players who have started a game during their Haverford career. The aforementioned Willigan will be entering his fourth year as a starter while Nick John and Ben Clark emerged as key pieces in the defense during their freshman campaigns last fall. Jaimon Olmsted will also provide a veteran presence as he played in every game last fall and was a starter during his sophomore season. Chris Richards has also made seven starts in the defense in 2014 while Reiss Berger made five during his rookie season. Alex Clark and Gabe Oppler will look for expanded roles in the defense that will be bolstered by freshman Mac Lyle and the return from injury of sophomore Nicholas Montgomery.
In addition to Corkery in the midfield, junior Russell Nicholson has started all 41 of his career games during his first two seasons while sophomore Michael Carr emerged as a starter during the Fords' 16-match winning streak last fall. Dorian Wirz, the 2013 Centennial Conference Rookie of the Year, also re-energizes this group with John Halifax and Max Krieg looking to add to the key minutes they logged last fall. Mason Bracker and Aditya Dias will also be in the mix for playing time.
Haverford, the Centennial Conference preseason favorite and No. 6 team in the NSCAA preseason poll, has played for the Centennial Conference Championship in four of its five seasons under head coach Shane Rineer and won titles in 2012 and 2015. The Fords went a perfect 9-0 in conference play during the regular season last year before their two wins in the conference tournament. Haverford has not been beaten in its last 11 regular season conference matches dating back to the 2014 season. The team has not been beaten at home in conference play since the 2013 season. The Fords will be looking to make their third trip to the NCAA Tournament in the past five years. Of the eight non-conference dates on the 2016 slate, six of them are against opponents recognized in the top 25 or receiving votes in the NSCAA preseason poll. This includes top 10 matches against No. 9 Brandeis and No. 10 Lycoming.