HAVERFORD, Pa. – For the third time in the past four seasons, the Haverford College men's soccer team will host the Centennial Conference Tournament on Walton Field. This tournament comes on the heels of the Fords celebrating their second Centennial Conference title on their home field during the 2015 season.
Haverford opens the tournament at 11 a.m. Saturday against Washington College. The Fords defeated Washington College by a 3-0 score during the regular season on Walton Field with Tejan Walcott, William Edwards, and Nick Jannelli providing the offense. Washington College, a team making its first-ever Centennial Conference Tournament appearance, is seeded fourth and coming off of a 1-0 victory against fifth-seeded Dickinson on Wednesday night.
Second-seeded Franklin & Marshall and third-seeded Johns Hopkins will make up the second semifinal on Saturday which is slated for a 1:30 p.m. start. The winners of the two semifinal games will meet for the conference championship and automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament on Sunday at 1 p.m. Haverford was downed by Franklin & Marshall, 1-0 in overtime, during the regular season. The Fords won 3-2 when they met Johns Hopkins on Walton Field this fall.
Looking to continue their recent history of success under head coach Shane Rineer, the Fords enter the tournament with an appearance in the championship match during four of the five previous seasons. Haverford was a 1-0 winner over Dickinson in the championship match a season ago, while also claiming the title in 2012 with a 1-0 win over Swarthmore.
Haverford's .727 winning percentage in the conference tournament is the highest mark in the conference all-time with the exception of the Shoremen who are 1-0 following their postseason debut. The Fords are 4-1 all-time in Centennial Conference semifinal match ups. Haverford has met Franklin & Marshall twice in conference tournament play and come away with a pair of victories. The most recent was a 2-0 win in 2014 as Haverford got past the top-seeded Diplomats in the conference semifinals. Haverford is 3-0 all-time against Johns Hopkins in the Centennial Conference Tournament, including last season's 4-1 win in the conference semifinals.
Freshman Nick Jannelli leads the Haverford offense with seven goals on the season. Ben Field and Tejan Walcott have scored five and four goals, respectively, to help pace Haverford this season. Will Corkery, who has been limited to just seven games, has three goals on the year. Peter Baroff also has scored three times for Haverford. Dorian Wirz leads the team with four assists, while Russell Nicholson and Field each have three helpers on the year.
Sam Miller has seen most of the action in goal for the Fords this season and has compiled a 0.79 GAA with a .811 save percentage. He has been a part of six shutouts, including four clean sheets by himself. Jeremy Astesano has made the remaining four starts and is allowing just 0.58 goals per game with an unbeaten 4-0-2 record in goal.
The Centennial Conference awards its automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament through the conference tournament. The selection show for the NCAA Tournament is set for Monday, November 7 at 1 p.m. The Fords are currently ranked fourth in the latest NCAA Regional Rankings which lead into the selection of the tournament field on Monday.