HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College men's soccer team saw its season come to an end in penalty kicks during the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Fords were up 1-0 with just under four minutes to play before the University of Massachusetts Boston tied the game in the 87th minute. That score held through two overtimes despite the Beacons playing down two men for the final 21 minutes. Eventually, UMass Boston advanced to the third round via a 4-2 advantage in penalty kicks.
The Fords got on the board first with a direct kick goal from Will Corkery in the 23rd minute of play. Setting up just a couple yards outside of the 18 and in the direct middle of the field, the senior captain buried his shot in the lower left hand side of the net to put his side up 1-0. That goal gave Corkery his fourth goal of the season. He finishes with 12 points in just 11 games this season.
Haverford finished the half with a 9-4 advantage in shots, but three saves from the Beacons' Omar Castro-Dreher denied any further scoring chances. Haverford also racked up a 12-9 edge in shots during the second half. In an early foreshadowing, the Fords were awarded a penalty kick in the 74th minute of play only to have Castro-Dreher make a huge save to keep his team in the game.
UMass Boston played down a man starting in the 68th minute when one of its players was shown a red card after previously receiving a yellow card during the first half of play. However, the Beacons did find an equalizer with just under four minutes to play as Ocane Williamson broke through for his 18th goal of the season after being held in check for most of the afternoon.
Just two minutes after scoring the game-tying goal, Williamson was shown a red card for misconduct and the Beacons were forced to play 11v9 for the final 1:23 of regulation and all 20 minutes of the two overtimes.
Haverford had already begun mounting a huge shot advantage throughout the contest. That offensive control only increased with a two man advantage during the final 21-plus minutes of game action. During the overtime session, the Fords racked up a 10-1 advantage in shots. Nevertheless, Castro-Dreher made 11 saves over the course of the game to keep the score knotted.
Castro-Dreher continued to make his presence felt in the penalty kicks as he made two crucial saves for his side. Seniors Maclyn Willigan and Matthew Clausen each made their penalty kick attempts during the shootout, but the Beacons went a perfect 4-for-4 to advance on in the tournament.
Haverford's senior class finishes its four-year career with a program-record 54 wins, two Centennial Conference Championships, and two NCAA Tournament appearances which each resulted in the Fords hosting NCAA games on Walton Field.