United Soccer Coaches Association Poll
HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College men's soccer team is receiving votes this week in both the United Soccer Coaches Association and D3Soccer.com national poll. The Fords (7-2-3, 2-2-1 CC) are the fifth team listed outside of the United Soccer Coaches Association Top 25 Poll and have the seventh-highest voting total (10 points) of those squads receiving votes according to D3Soccer.com.
The national rankings come after a pair of results from the Fords last week. Haverford started last week with a Wednesday non-conference match that resulted in a scoreless draw at Rutgers-Camden with the Fords having several looks at a potential game-winning goal throughout the regulation and overtime periods.
Returning home this past Saturday, Haverford secured its second conference victory of the season as Nick Jannelli scored his sixth game-winning goal of the season with 2.9 seconds remaining in regulation of the 1-0 victory. Adding two more shutouts to his total, junior goalie Jeremy Astesano moved into the top five in Division III with his seventh shutout in 11 starts.
The Fords have now been listed in the D3Soccer.com Poll for 19 straight releases dating back to the 2015 season. This week marks the first of those occasions that the team sits outside of the top 25 squads. Haverford has been ranked in the top 25 of the United Soccer Coaches Poll in 18 of the last 21 releases and has been receiving votes on two of those occasions which they were not among the ranked teams.
Haverford will have a chance to make a statement against a top 25 team tonight when the Fords travel to Drew for a 7:30 p.m. match in New Jersey. The Rangers (12-0-1) are ranked 17th in the D3Soccer.com Poll and 23rd in the United Soccer Coaches Poll. Haverford is 4-3 all-time against Drew, including a 2-1 record when the matches are played in Madison, N.J. The last meeting came during the 2013 season when Haverford emerged a 3-2 winner.
Tonight's match will mark the conclusion of non-conference play for the regular season. Haverford returns to Centennial Conference play this Saturday with a 2 p.m. match at Washington College. The meeting with the Shoremen (3-8, 1-4 CC) will be a rematch of last year's conference semifinal which was won by Haverford, 2-1 in overtime, on a goal by Russell Nicholson. The Fords are 28-12-5 all-time against WAC with a 12-8-3 mark in Chestertown. Haverford has won the last six meetings in this series dating back to the 2012 season.