CHESTERTOWN, Md. – The Haverford College men's soccer team, a squad receiving votes in both the United Soccer Coaches Association and D3Soccer.com national polls, got a game-tying from Peter Baroff with just 5:44 remaining in regulation before Ben Field sealed a 2-1 win over Washington College with 1:41 remaining in the first overtime session.
With the thrilling victory, the Fords (9-3-3, 4-2-1 CC) moved into a playoff position with three Centennial Conference contests remaining in the regular season and are just four points out of first place in an extremely compact conference table.
Both teams went scoreless into the 84th minute of Saturday's match before the Shoremen got a goal from Christian Keller with just 7:51 to play in regulation. Up until that point, a shot off the post from Washington College was the closest either team got to scoring as Jeremy Astesano finished the match with six saves. His counterpart, Gavin Campbell, made three saves on the night for the Shoremen.
With its backs against the wall, Haverford came back with a vengeance. Just 1:07 after Haverford conceded a goal, Baroff completed a sliding goal to finish a pass from Field. Baroff's goal was his second of the season and makes him the fourth different player with at least two goals for the Fords this year.
In the first overtime period, each team had a pair of shots midway through the period. Nick Jannelli saw both of his bids at the game-winning goal for Haverford stopped, while Astesano came up with his final save of the evening during the 93rd minute.
Just 29 seconds after the Shoremen was whistled for being offside, Haverford found its game-winner when Jannelli found Field cutting through the 18 for a finish on the far post. Jannelli's assist was his team-leading third of the season as he also headlines the offense with nine goals and 21 total points. The sophomore has a total of 40 points to date in his career. Field also scored his second goal of the season on Saturday. The first game-winning goal of the captain's season was Field's sixth career game-winning tally. He too now has 40 career points with 14 goals and 12 assists.
Men's soccer will return home to Walton Field next Wednesday for a 4 p.m. match against Ursinus. The Fords will have two matches during their second-to-last week of the regular season as the team travels to Dickinson next Saturday in what will also be a 4 p.m. start in Carlisle.