HAVERFORD, Pa. – With the highest strength of schedule throughout the entire Mid-Atlantic Region, the Haverford College men's soccer team is ranked fifth in the first of four NCAA regional rankings releases in the coming weeks. These rankings ultimately lead up to the selection of at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament.
Regional rankings will also be released on Wednesday, October 25 and Wednesday, November 1 before the final release on Monday, November 6. That final ranking will be made public after the teams selected to the NCAA Tournament have been announced.
The Fords are 9-3-3 on the year with a 4-2-1 Centennial Conference record. With the NCAA's announcement during Haverford's 4-0 win against Ursinus yesterday afternoon, these latest rankings will only take that victory over the Bears into account starting next week. Starting with the second release next week, the rankings will begin to take into account "record vs. ranked opponents." The Fords are currently 3-3 versus teams who are ranked this week with wins over Messiah (No. 1 in Mid-Atlantic Region), Elizabethtown (No. 9 in Mid-Atlantic Region), and Stevens (No. 7 in East Region). Haverford's three defeats this season have come to Johns Hopkins (No. 2 in Mid-Atlantic Region), Gettysburg (No. 3 in Mid-Atlantic Region), and Drew (No. 7 in Mid-Atlantic Region).
Men's soccer will have another crucial matchup coming this Saturday as the team travels to Dickinson for a 4 p.m. showdown with the Red Devils. In addition to Haverford being able to officially clinch a berth into the Centennial Conference Tournament with a win, this match will also be another regionally-ranked opponent for the Fords as the Red Devils were just one slot below Haverford in the first NCAA regional rankings release.