HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College men's soccer team recorded a hard-fought 3-2 victory against Drew (8-4) on Walton Field Wednesday afternoon. The Fords (6-4) found themselves down a goal midway through the opening half before scoring three straight to help secure the non-conference victory. In a tight historical matchup, five of the nine meetings between the schools have now been decided by a single goal. Wednesday's win gives Haverford a 5-4 edge in the all-time series – which dates back to 1979 – and avenges a 2-1 road defeat from the 2017 season.
In a high-paced match, it was the Rangers who struck first as Haverford goalie Michael Iacono stopped Drew's initial shot on goal, but Aidan Cserhat followed his own shot to goal and was rewarded with a rebound that he finished for the 1-0 advantage during the 25th minute.
Wasting little time leveling the match, the Fords scored just 32 seconds after conceding the game's first goal as Nick Jannelli collected a pass into the 18 off a throw-in from Zach Brown and deposited his team-leading sixth goal this season just inside the far post to tie the match at one-all. Jannelli now has 16 points through Haverford's first 10 matches. His 27th career goal on Wednesday tied him with Jon Propper '77 for 17th in the school record books. The junior's 65 career points are now tied with Bruce Brownell '73 for 18th in program history. Brown was credited with the first point of his career for the assist on the initial throw.
Luca Mello's first career goal gave his side a 2-1 lead heading into the half. Mello scored his first collegiate goal with just under five minutes remaining in the opening half as his shot from well outside of the box skipped past the Ranger defense and inside the near post. Haverford nearly made it 3-1 just 2:21 into the second half as Max Krieg's bicycle kick was deflected over the crossbar by the Drew keeper.
Nevertheless, the Fords would add what turned out to be the game-winning goal just over nine minutes into the second half as Peter Baroff finished a pass from Reiss Berger for his second goal this season. Baroff now has seven goals during his career. Berger was credited with the first assist of his career as a four-year starter on the Haverford back line. The Rangers came back with a quick answer of their own just 3:08 after Haverford took a 3-1 advantage. However, that would be all the closer the visitors came as Drew's only other shot on goal during the remaining time was stopped by Iacono during the 86th minute of play.
Haverford amassed 21 total shots, compared to just 14 for Drew. The Fords also maintained an 8-2 advantage in corner kicks over the 90 minute match. Jannelli led the Fords with four shots, while Sykes Cargile, Matthieu Maciejewski, and Baroff each took three shots. In net, Iacono's seven saves helped the Fords stay in the contest until the offense arrived, while his counterpart denied four Haverford scoring chances.
Men's soccer will return to Centennial Conference play this Saturday as Washington College visits Walton Field for a 2 p.m. kick off. Haverford will enter the weekend even with first-place Gettysburg in the loss column but with one fewer conference match played. The Shoremen enter this weekend's contest as a desperate team looking to stay in the race for the final playoff spot in the Centennial Conference Tournament.