HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College men's soccer team has won back-to-back Centennial Conference Championships and will have another strong regular season schedule that will look to pave the way for another postseason run in 2017. The Fords, who have played for the conference title in five of the last six seasons – winning it three times – will play each of the other top six teams in last year's NCAA Mid-Atlantic Region rankings and seven of the top nine overall.
After the Alumni Game on Saturday, August 26 at 2 p.m., the Fords open the regular season at Cabrini (Fri, Sept. 1). That matchup will be the first meeting since a 2-0 Haverford win in 2010. The home opener is set for Wednesday, September 6 against Messiah. Messiah advanced to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 last year and was the top ranked team in the region. The Fords will be looking for their first win in the series' history as they are 0-4 all-time but have not met since 2012.
The Jimmy Mills Tournament will once again be split between Haverford and Eastern. Eastern will host Saturday's action when the Fords take on Elizabethtown (Sept. 9). The Blue Jays were fifth in the region last year and advanced to the NCAA Tournament Round of 32. These teams will be meeting for the first time since 1992. Haverford will host Catholic that next day (Sept. 10). The Fords are 2-1 all-time in the series with a 3-0 win in 2015 during the most recent meeting. Haverford's only back-to-back home dates in the regular season will come when Stevens (Sept. 13) visits Walton Field. Haverford is 0-1-1 against the Ducks during trips to New Jersey the last two seasons and coming off a scoreless draw in 2016.
Haverford has hosted three of the last four Centennial Conference Tournaments by virtue of the best regular season record and the quest to add another year in that run opens on Saturday, September 16 at Johns Hopkins. The Blue Jays were sixth in the region last year. Haverford has won the last five meetings in the series, including two playoff victories since the start of the 2014 season.
Road trips to Scranton (Sept. 20), Rutgers-Camden (Oct. 4), and Drew (Oct. 11) will also be scattered throughout the conference slate. Scranton advanced to the NCAA Second Round last year with the sides playing to a 1-1 tie during the regular season. The Royals were third in the region, just one spot ahead of the Fords. Haverford opens October looking to avenge a 1-0 defeat at home as those teams meet for the sixth straight season. The non-conference finale at Drew will be the first meeting since 2013 as Drew ranked ninth in the region last year.
The home Centennial Conference opener will come against Franklin & Marshall (Sept. 23) in a rematch of the 2016 championship which went to Haverford by a 2-1 score. The Diplomats handed the Fords their only defeat in conference during the past two seasons with an overtime win during the 2016 regular season. Other home dates in conference feature McDaniel (Oct. 7), Ursinus (Oct. 18), and Swarthmore (Oct. 28). The games with Ursinus and Swarthmore both went to overtime before Haverford wins in 2016. In addition to Johns Hopkins, Haverford will travel to Muhlenberg (Sept. 27), Gettysburg (Sept. 30), Washington College (Oct. 14), and Dickinson (Oct. 21).
Men's soccer has broken the school record for most wins by a graduating class in each of the last two seasons. Haverford finished last year in the Round of 32 with a defeat in penalty kicks. Looking to push the Fords forward in 2017 will be four All-Centennial Conference performers from last year that return to the fold, including two All-Mid-Atlantic Region selections in Dorian Wirz and Ben Field, along with Nick Janelli – last year's Centennial Conference Rookie of the Year.