HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College men's soccer team clinched the No. 4 seed in the upcoming Centennial Conference Tournament with a 3-1 win against Swarthmore. Prior to game, the Fords celebrated the six members of their senior class which moved into sole possession of second place in the school record books with their 53rd victory during the past four seasons. Last year's Class of 2017 currently holds the record with 54 victories in four seasons.
On Saturday, Nick Jannelli scored a pair of goals to lead the Fords to the Hood Trophy victory. Michael Carr also assisted on the Fords' opening goal and scored the eventual game-winning goal to finish with three points in the contest.
Haverford got on the board just over five minutes into the contest when Jannelli got on the end of a pass from Carr and finished from right on the mouth of the goal. Just 15 minutes later, Carr made the score 2-0 as he picked up the possession in the midfield and dribbled through the Swarthmore defense before finishing at the top of the 18. Carr's goal was his first of the season to go along with his second assist of 2017. The junior now has three career three-point contests, including another such outing he had against Swarthmore on Senior Day in 2015.
The Garnet got one of those goals back in the 28th minute when Haverford was whistled for a foul inside the box. Ryan Ward converted the penalty kick for Swarthmore to make the score 2-1. Jeremy Astesano, who stopped two penalty kicks at Dickinson, guessed correctly but just could not get to the perfectly placed ball in the corner of the goal.
Jannelli tallied his second goal of the afternoon when Haverford drew a foul in the box and earned a penalty kick during the 60th minute of play. Jannelli now has 13 goals this season for a total of 30 points through 17 regular season contests. He is a perfect 4-for-4 in penalty kick opportunities this season.
The visiting Garnet finished the contest with an 11-7 advantage in shots, but seven saves from Haverford's goalies kept Swarthmore off the board all afternoon with the exception of the penalty kick goal. Jeremy Astesano picked up the win in goal as he made four saves during the first half. Michael Iacono took over at halftime and did not allow a goal on his way to making three saves during the final 45 minutes.
With the victory on Saturday, the Fords will now host fifth-seeded Dickinson this coming Tuesday in the Centennial Conference first round game. That match has been moved up by one day with Johns Hopkins scheduled to host the field hockey, men' soccer, and women's soccer tournaments next weekend. Therefore, the men's soccer semifinal contests will take place on Friday, November 3 with the championship match to be played Sunday, November 5. Times for those games will be announced by the conference office on Monday.