ST. DAVIDS, Pa. – The Haverford College men's soccer team, ranked No. 18 nationally by the United Soccer Coaches, put away three second half goals en route to a 3-0 shutout victory at Cabrini to open the 2017 season. Today's victory makes the Fords (1-0) a perfect 7-0 in season openers under head coach Shane Rineer. The win marks the second straight shutout to start a season after last year's 5-0 blanking of Western New England.
On Friday afternoon, it was the sophomore class that carried the offense as Nick Jannelli scored twice in less than three minutes before Peter Baroff found the back of the net to close the scoring. In goal, Jeremy Astesano improved to 9-0-3 in goal during his career with his second career shutout. Astesano finished his night by stopping all four shots that he faced.
Haverford opened the offense in the 62nd minute when the Cavaliers were whistled for a foul in the box. Jannelli, the reigning Centennial Conference Rookie of the Year, then calmly deposited that PK in the back of the net for a 1-0 advantage. The sophomore's tally makes him 2-for-2 in penalty kick attempts during his collegiate career. That first goal of the night was also the second game-winning goal during his time at Haverford.
Once the Fords got on the board, Haverford struck back just 2:19 later with Jannelli taking a feed from Nicholas Montgomery to make it 2-0 with less than 27 minutes to play. Jannelli now has 10 career goals to his credit after leading the team with eight goals as a rookie. The Fords' sophomore now has two career multi-goal games after tallying twice in the win against Johns Hopkins last year. Montgomery was credited with his first career assist and point on the team's second goal.
Capping the scoring in the 84th minute was Baroff as he broke through the Cabrini defense one last time to make it a 3-0 final. Baroff now has four career goals after tallying three times in his rookie campaign.
After playing a basically even statistical first half with Haverford holding just a 5-3 edge in shots after the first 45 minutes, the Fords ended the game with a 17-8 advantage in shots and 12-4 edge in shots on goal. Nicholson finished with a team-high four shots on the afternoon. Jannelli scored twice and finished with three shots on the evening while Ben Field, Max Krieg, and Baroff each had two shots in the win.
Men's soccer will now prepare for its home opener next Wednesday, September 6 at 5 p.m. against No. 11 Messiah. One of two preseason nationally-ranked teams on the Fords' slate, Haverford and Messiah will be meeting for the first time since the 2012 season.