HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College men's soccer team is heading into the NCAA Tournament with the momentum of the 2016 Centennial Conference Championship. Holding the program's third conference title in the past five seasons, the Fords also saw a jump in the national polls as Haverford is ranked 13th in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) poll and 15th in the D3Soccer.com poll. The Fords jumped up four spots in both polls from their rankings a week ago.
Haverford came through with a pair of 2-1 victories during the past week to become the first team in conference history to both host and win the Centennial Conference Tournament in back-to-back seasons. The Fords rallied for a 2-1 overtime win against Washington College in the conference semifinals with goals from Nick John and Russell Nicholson. Nick Jannelli and Max Krieg provided the offense in the Fords' 2-1 win over then-No. 8 Franklin & Marshall to hoist the conference trophy.
The Fords will now serve as a host of the NCAA Regional round for the second year in a row. Haverford will begin its NCAA Tournament on Saturday with a match up against Merchant Marine on Walton Field at 11 a.m. UMass Boston and Kean make up the other game on Walton Field with the two winners meeting Sunday at 1 p.m. for the right to move on to the sectional round.
Haverford owns the distinction of being the highest ranked team in this weekend's pod according to the NSCAA poll as UMass Boston is ranked 15th in the latest release. However, D3Soccer.com gives the latest edge in the rankings to UMass Boston as it is ranked 10th in that poll.
Men's soccer will be making its sixth appearance all-time in the NCAA Tournament. The Fords only previously made back-to-back national tournament appearances during the 1976 and 1977 seasons. Haverford will playing in a Round of 64 game for just the second time in program history when it takes the field on Saturday.
The tournament started at 16 teams during the Fords' first two appearances and was expanded to 24 teams by their third appearance in 1980. In its only Round of 64 contest, Haverford advanced with a 4-3 edge in penalty kicks following a 2-2 draw against Wesleyan in 2012. The Fords received one of three byes in last year's first round. Two wins would put Haverford in the Round 16, marking the fifth time in six NCAA Tournament appearances the Fords have gone that deep in the national bracket.