HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College men's soccer team shut down Gettysburg on Sunday afternoon, winning a 2-0 Centennial Conference contest on Walton Field. In the process, the Fords (4-4, 2-1 CC) handed the Bullets (5-3-1, 3-1 CC) their first conference defeat of the season and gave head coach Zach Ward a win in his first time matching up with Gettysburg after spending four seasons as an assistant coach with the Bullets.
Haverford's shutout marked just the third time the Fords have blanked Gettysburg in the 28 meetings between the two schools. The other occasions came during the 2011 and 2014 seasons. On Sunday, the Fords limited the visiting Bullets to just five shots in total as goalie Michael Iacono stopped the four shots on goal for his second shutout of 2018. Iacono and the Haverford defense also successfully handled six corner kicks attempts that the Bullets earned.
Michael Carr and Nick Jannelli scored Haverford's goal as the Fords found the back of the net once in each half. Carr found the match's opening tally during the 12th minute of play as he gathered a pass from Nick John and eluded the Gettysburg defense before finishing to the lower right hand corner of the net. Carr's goal was the first of the captain's senior campaign and the sixth of his career out of the midfield. Each of his last four career goals have turned out to be game-winning efforts. Nick John recorded his second assist of the season on the play. The senior defender notched his first helper of the year during the season opener against Cabrini.
After an early goal to start the conference clash, Jannelli put the Fords' insurance goal on the board with 6:32 remaining in regulation time. Scoring his fifth goal of the season, Jannelli gathered the possession in the midfield and beat his defender to free up enough space from just outside of the 18 where his shot also beat the keeper to the right side. Jannelli's team-leading five goals, and three assists, give him 13 points through the Fords' first eight matches. Sunday's goal marked the 26th tally of the junior's Haverford career. His goal moves him into a tie for 18th place on Haverford's all-time goals list. His goal tied the previous marks of 2014 Hall of Achievement inductee Howard Morris '86, John Downing 1912, and John Doan '82.
The Fords finished the victory over Gettysburg with an 11-5 advantage in shots and seven corner kicks compared to just six for the Bullets. Jannelli finished with a team and match-high four shots, while Sykes Cargile had three shots on the afternoon.
Men's soccer will return to Walton Field this Tuesday against Rutgers-Camden in a match that is slated for a 4 p.m. start. Haverford will resume conference play this coming Saturday, October 6 at McDaniel. The Fords are currently just three points out of first place in the conference but have played one less match then co-conference leaders Dickinson and Gettysburg. The Bullets are Red Devils both have nine points with their 3-1 records in Centennial Conference action.