Full Centennial Conference Release
HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College men's soccer team recently became the first Centennial Conference school to both host and win the Centennial Conference Tournament in back-to-back seasons. That success on the field was rewarded with eight all-conference honorees and two major awards bestowed upon Haverford. The eight all-conference honorees come just one year after the team had a school-record seven all-conference selections during the 2015 season.
Dorian Wirz was one of two players named first-team All-Centennial Conference. Wirz was also named honorable mention All-CC during his freshman season when he was named the Centennial Conference Rookie of the Year. From his position in the midfield, Wirz is tied for the team lead with four assists. Three of those assists came in Centennial Conference action.
Maclyn Willigan earned first-team All-Centennial Conference recognition for the first time in his career. The senior co-captain was a second-team honoree a season ago and has started all 19 games this season for a Haverford defense that has seven shutouts. Willigan also assisted on two goals, helping setting up scoring chances in one-goal victories against Johns Hopkins and Muhlenberg during the regular season.
Nick Jannelli was named the Centennial Conference Rookie of the Year and earned second-team All-CC honors. Jannelli is leading the team with eight goals, his most recent coming in the Centennial Conference Championship match. He also scored six goals against conference foes during the regular season to go along with three total assists. He scored the game-winning goal in a 3-2 win against Gettysburg.
Ben Field earned All-Centennial Conference honors for the first time in his career with second-team recognition. Field ranked second on the team with five goals during the regular season to go along with four assists. Those four helpers are currently tied for the team lead. His two game-winning goals came against Western New England and Stockton.
Russell Nicholson joined his classmate as a second-team All-Centennial Conference selection for the first time in his career. Nicholson has scored two goals and assisted on three more. His two goals were both game-winners as he helped Haverford secure home field advantage in the playoffs during the 1-0 win against Swarthmore and sent Haverford into the Centennial Conference Championship match with an overtime winner against Washington College.
Will Corkery was named second-team All-Centennial Conference after earning first-team honors in 2015 and honorable mention accolades in 2014. The co-captain's recognition came despite missing over half of the conference schedule. Nevertheless, he managed to score three goals and assist on two more in just nine games. Corkery scored the game-winning goal in overtime against Ursinus with one of his signature direct kicks. He also set up Haverford's second goal in the 2-1 win against Franklin & Marshall to capture the team's second straight Centennial Conference Championship.
Tejan Walcott earned honorable mention All-Centennial Conference honors for the third straight season. Walcott has scored four goals and assisted on two more so far this year. Three of his four goals came in Centennial Conference play as he scored the game-winning goal against Washington College during the regular season. He also tallied in one-goal victories against Gettysburg and Muhlenberg.
Sam Miller earned honorable mention All-Centennial Conference recognition for the second straight season after going 4-1 with two shutouts in his six Centennial Conference starts. Miller allowed opponents just 0.79 goals per game during the regular season where he was 7-3-1 as the goalie of record. Miller recorded four solo shutouts on the year and was a part of two other combined efforts.
Shane Rineer was voted as the Centennial Conference Coach of the Year by his peers for the second straight season. Rineer has led his team to the conference playoffs in each of his six seasons after Haverford had not competed in the postseason since joining the Centennial Conference. His teams have finished with the best Centennial Conference record during the regular season in three of the past four seasons and hoisted the tournament trophy three times as well in the past five years. Haverford has played in the Centennial Conference Championship match five times in the past six years.
The Fords will have a chance to add to their decorated resume this Saturday when the team opens up NCAA Tournament play on Walton Field against Merchant Marine at 11 a.m. The Fords have qualified for back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances just one other time in program history and enter this year's draw following a run to the Elite Eight in 2015.