HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College men's soccer team won its third Centennial Conference Championship over the past four years with a thrilling overtime victory during the 2018 season. The Fords graduated a talented 10 player class which accounted for the most wins over a four-year period, but they are once again hungry to stake their claim to the top of the Centennial Conference.
The Fords have now advanced to the Centennial Conference Tournament in eight straight years. Haverford has played for the conference title six times over the span, winning the first four Centennial Championships in program history. Zach Ward, the 2018 Centennial Conference Coach of the Year will enter his second season with the program looking to help the team reach greater heights in 2019. With an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament last fall, the Fords came out on the unlucky side of penalty kicks during the opening round and will be looking for a return to the national tournament this fall as six starters return from that championship run.
Men's soccer went 14-4-1 overall a season ago with an 8-1 record in Centennial Conference play. The Fords avenged their only conference loss on the road to Franklin & Marshall in the Centennial Conference Championship win. As a team receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches Association Preseason poll, Haverford will enter the 2019 season on a 12 match unbeaten streak which is tied for the third longest stretch in school history. The Fords will play 10 home matches throughout the regular season, including each of their first five contests. Haverford is unbeaten in its last eight matches at home. Walton Field has also witnessed Haverford win 24 straight Centennial Conference regular season matches at home dating back to the 2013 season.
Forward: Haverford returns two of the top scoring threats in the country in senior captains Nick Jannelli and Peter Baroff. Jannelli was named the 2018 Centennial Conference Player of the Year and a third-team All-American after leading the conference with 13 goals, nine assists, and 37 points. Jannelli scored the game-winning goal in overtime to bring home the 2018 Centennial Conference Championship and has a school-record 14 game-winning goals throughout his career. He ranks 11th all-time at Haverford with 34 career goals and has 16 career assists for a total of 84 career points.
Baroff was named a second-team All-Centennial Conference performer last fall and found an even higher level in the postseason as he scored two goals in the conference tournament and assisted on two others on his way to being named the Centennial Conference Tournament MVP. Baroff had a hand in every goal for the Fords that weekend. His 19 total points in 2018 (7 goals, 5 assists) ranked third among all Centennial Conference players. Adding to Haverford's scoring threats from the returners are senior Rodrigo Zuniga and sophomore Meinhardt Rentrup who have played in 17 and 11 career matches, respectively. Rentrup recorded his first career assist during his rookie campaign against Stevens. Newcomer Nick Pippis will give the Fords an additional attacking threat this fall.
Goalkeeper: Michael Iacono, who is also a captain this fall, took over as the starting goalie on a full-time basis last year and went on to earn first-team All-Centennial Conference honors. Iacono was particularly strong in conference play last fall as he led the Centennial with a 0.53 GAA and 87.1% save percentage against conference foes during the regular season. His 1.06 career GAA ranks seventh in school history while he also has six shutouts to his resume. With Iacono providing the steadying force, sophomore Aaron Cohen and first-year Dylan Ioffreda provide even more depth to an already strong goalkeeper squad.
Midfield: Returning as a starter in the midfield will be Noah Schwab. Schwab started every game during his rookie campaign, scoring against Cabrini and Rowan. Another strong option in the midfield will be the return of Ryan Sholes who was a starter for the first four games of last season before missing the second half of the season. Now a junior, Kevin Kaufman appeared in 17 of the team's 19 matches a season ago and should vie for significant time in the lineup again this spring.
Looking to take a step forward this fall, sophomores Luca Mello, Liam O'Malley, and Matt Heim all saw time in the midfield a season ago as each now has another year of experience. Joining the midfield ranks will be junior Michael Lyons who transferred to Haverford after playing seven matches at Division II Jefferson while first-year Brian Lorenz also joins this group.
Defense: With starters who saw significant time in the starting lineup graduated for the defensive unit, juniors Will Klein and Sykes Cargile emerge as the most experienced defenders in the group. Klein has started 25 of his 28 career appearances for what will be a young unit. Cargile, who has also seen time in the midfield, solidified his spot in the starting XI throughout the 2018 season and scored goals against both Rowan and McDaniel a season ago. Classmate Zach Brown also started nine games on defense out of his 14 appearances. The lone senior from that defensive unit, Mac Lyle, has made seven starts throughout his career. Junior Matthieu Maciejewski also has three starts to his credit.
A number of players who appeared off the bench in previous seasons will now have a chance to make an impact with the graduation of several key pieces. Junior Brett Mozarsky has appeared in six matches during his career, while sophomores Jake Zimmerman, Paul-Andre Coulibaly, and Anthony Walker will also vie for increased minutes. Three first-years join the defense with a chance to make an immediate impact in Max Mouer, Andrew Peebles, and Ben Ward.