WALTHAM, Mass. – The No. 6 Haverford College men's soccer team squared off against No. 9 Brandeis in an early tilt with two teams predicted to make deep runs into the NCAA Tournament. However, it was the Judges who made a first half goal stand up in the 1-0 win during the top 10 showdown.
Brandeis' goal came off the foot of Brandon Miskin in the 33rd minute when he received a pass from Zach Vieira and buried his shot from just inside the 18. Other than the first half goal, the offensive chances seemed to swing in Haverford's favor. Nevertheless, four saves from Ben Woodhouse made that tally stand up while Sam Miller made two saves in the match.
Although Brandeis held a slight 10-9 advantage in shots, the Fords dominated in corner kick chances with a 15-1 edge in that category. Haverford generated seven corner kick chances in the first half and eight more in the second half to keep the Judges under constant pressure. The second half also saw Haverford hold a 4-3 edge in shots. The Fords finished with a 4-3 advantage in shots on goal over the 90 minute contest. Nick Jannelli and Dorian Wirz each had two shots to lead the Haverford offense on Sunday afternoon.
Haverford's first strong chance to crack the scoreboard came in the 21st minute when Will Corkery saw his shot saved on a diving effort after an initial take by Tejan Walcott was blocked down by the defense inside the box.
The Fords also got a header from Matthew Clausen in the 59th minute which appeared headed for the far post but was covered by Woodhouse. Haverford earned four chances at corner kicks in the final 15 minutes of play and saw its final shot travel wide of goal with just over two minutes remaining in the contest.
Men's soccer will next take part in the Jimmy Mills Classic which is being co-hosted by Eastern. Eastern will serve as the host of Saturday's games where the Fords will battle Alvernia at 2 p.m. Another top 10 test awaits Haverford in the team's home opener on Sunday against No. 10 Lycoming. The battle for regional positioning will also start at 2 p.m. as part of Haverford's day of hosting the Jimmy Mills Classic.